Regional anaesthesia experts team up at Muhimbili

Dar es Salaam. Experts in anaesthesia from various East African countries are camping at the Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (MOI) for a four-day training on how to handle children who are undergoing emergency treatment.

Anaesthesia, according to experts, is applied to patients before surgical procedures to induce temporary loss of sensation or awareness.

It is for the first time that MOI is hosting such training, said the institute’s Executive Director, Dr Respicious Boniface.

“It’s a great honor for the institute, because the event is one of its kind. It has never occurred in East Africa," said Dr Boniface.

According to him, the training, dubbed, “Managing Emergencies in Paediatric Anaesthesia (MEPA),” will help equip anaestheisa experts with the necessary skills to operate on children with different medical problems.

The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Dr Mpoki Ulisubisya said the training would help build the capacity of anaesthesia experts by furnishing them with modern ways of operating on children involved in accidents.

According to him, it’s important for an institution such as MOI to have such practical trainings as it helps save the lives of more children.

An expert from Rwanda, Rosemary Mukunzi urged African leaders to invest in grooming more surgeons and anaesthesia experts.

She said the only way to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) was to invest in such expertise.

The training was led by experts from University of Kwazulu Natal in South Africa, in collaboration with the Association of Anesthesiologists of Tanzania (Sata).