Rural TZ to get medical labs
The initiative would collect and test lab samples from dispensaries all over the district
What you need to know:
The Director of the organisation based at Kabuku, Handeni District, John Nyika, said the initiative; Laboratory Access Service Initiatives (LAB-SEI) is the solution.
Handeni. In an effort to address the severe shortage of laboratory services in rural areas,Tanzania Health Laboratory Service Solutions Organization (TANHELSO), has come with a special initiative aimed at increasing access to laboratory services to rural populations in the district.
The Director of the organisation based at Kabuku, Handeni District, John Nyika, said the initiative; Laboratory Access Service Initiatives (LAB-SEI) is the solution.
Nike said that according to a research he undertook over a period of 20 years, laboratory services seem to have been ignored since independence, particularly in rural areas where the majority of residents are forced to use drugs without prior testing and diagnosis.
Under the initiative, TANHELSO has built a laboratory for rural in Handeni district as a Pilot Study for the LAB-SEI initiatives to enable the community to get access to laboratory services.
Nyika said that there are only three Health Centres which have laboratory services catering for 47 government dispensaries.
He said that the initiative would collect and test lab samples from dispensaries that do not have such services and the results of the tests would be made available through a network known as Tellab.
The institution’s laboratory would cater for 18 dispensaries and intends to establish two more laboratories at Mkata and Sindeni that would make it possible to reach more dispensaries in the district.
