Tanzania: Probe Suspect Deaths

Tanzania: Probe Suspect Deaths

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The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

EDITORIAL
6 June 2008
Posted to the web 6 June 2008

Hospitals are meant to save lives, but the reality is that some of the patients will die. This is something relatives and those attending to those who are ill must accept. However, the circumstances must be clear as not to raise eyebrows. This is why every reasonable care must be taken by health professionals so as not to raise any suspicions. After all, patients do to hospitals to be healed and not to die.

However, several recent deaths at hospitals have thrown the spotlight in these institutions of healing because of unforgiveable errors by some professionals or death in circumstances that appeared somewhat abnormal. The most notorious recent case was the one where a patient was wrongly operated on at the Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (MOI), following a mix-up of names.

And last week, a woman died at Mwananyamala hospital, also in Dar es Salaam, due to what the authorities have explained was lack of insufficient medical equipment.

Relevant Links East Africa Health and Medicine Tanzania

These are just two examples of deaths that have raised queries at our hospitals. And they probably came to light because they occurred in the capital where most mass media organs are based.

What about other areas in this vast country of 945,087 square kilometres? Some of these so remote that wrongdoing could go undetected.

The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare must investigate these hospital deaths, and others that may have occurred and severely punish the culprits to ensure that such lapses do not occur again.

--
Jean-Louis Kayitenkore
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: +250-08470205
Home: +250-55104140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali-Rwanda
East Africa
Blog: http://www.cepgl.blogspot.com
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