THE US government has hailed the long partnership with Tanzania which has helped to see the latter strengthening laboratory capacity, disease tracking systems and epidemiology training under the Global Health Security Agenda.
“This is a success programme in which
Tanzania has the capacity now to train its doctors to study the problem
here and respond effectively,” said the Director of the Centres for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr Tom Frieden.
He said that there is a joint external
evaluation going on to establish Tanzania’s readiness to fight epidemics
so that they can pick stock where the country is. He added that the
country has quite appropriately been applying the principles of global
Health Security to deal with cholera outbreak.
“It has been able to establish public
health emergency operation centres, working to improve reporting on
those infected and trying to find out why people are dying and looking
into the source of water supply,” he said.
However, Epidemiology is the study of
the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease conditions in
defined populations. Health analysts explain that it is the cornerstone
of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidence-based
practice by identifying risk factors for disease and targets for
preventive healthcare.
Meanwhile, the CDC Director has
commended the country for having made real progress against HIV in terms
of strengthening systems like laboratory response capacity.
Speaking to the media in the city on
Monday, Dr Tom Frieden hailed the country’s achievement in strengthening
systems like laboratory response capacity. Furthermore he reiterated
that Tanzania can build on that progress to make even more progress.
He also said that if it does so not only
will it increase life expectancy but also increase economic
productivity. “Such a move will improve the country health and its
economy,” he stressed.
He also said that another achievement is
on Global Tuberculosis Strategy which was established in the country.
“Tanzania is the birth place of the tuberculosis strategy for the
world,” he remarked.
The country is one of the 31 countries
selected as one of Global Health Security Centres, he said. He also
explained that it is possible with investment in health and its good
implementation of such programme to save both lives and money.
The CDC Boss who is in charge of
improving health security in US and around the world, among other
duties, is in the country to learn on Global Health Security Agenda,
cholera, HIV and TB responses in the country.
Dr Frieden is accompanied by the acting
Director, Centre for Global Health, Dr Rebecca Martin. Dr Martin has
served as Programme Director for Strategic Information and Human
Resources for Health from 2006-2008 in the country.
She led and implemented studies, in
partnership with the ministry of health to measure and evaluate the
HIV/AIDS epidemic and strengthens national capacity.
CDC is the leading national public
health institute of the United States which is under the Department of
Health and Human Services.
