WHO praises Tanzania’s new position on COVID-19

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | THE INDEPENDENT | The World Health Organisation (WHO) has commended Tanzania for reverting to measures meant to contain the spread of Covid-19, Tanzania’s daily The Citizen has reported.

The Citizen quoted the WHO regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti who at a press briefing on Thursday, stated that instructions recently made by the government including putting on face masks were promising in scaling up the war against contagious disease.

On stories that Tanzania President John Magufuli is unwell, Dr Moeti  said, “As WHO we have no information regarding the health of President Magufuli. I would not like to speculate, we can only wish him well, but we note that Tanzania has recently recognized that COVID-19 is a health issue for the country following the passing away of the Vice President of Zanzibar and a senior official of government. This is a positive step.”

Dr Moeti called on the Tanzanians to step up their preparations to vaccinate its people courtesy of the COVAX arrangement to help poor countries.

Last month, according to The Citizen, the government urged Tanzanians to undertake eight specific measures in a deliberate move to win the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Apart from a three-day period of prayers, the Health ministry issued a statement instructing Tanzanians to also subscribe to hygienic requirements as advanced by health experts, wash hands, sanitize and put on masks.

“We must continue taking precautions by abiding by healthy living requirements so as to prevent hazards that may weaken our body immune systems….,” according to a statement signed by the head of government communications unit at the Ministry.

Get ready for vaccines

In Thursday’s press briefing, Dr Moeti further called on Tanzania to abide by Covid-19 testing procedures recommended by WHO and share important data on the trend of the disease, expressing hope that the organization will start receiving statistics.

She said disease prevention and control measures should be built from individual, community and public levels, reaffirming the WHO commitment to support the country.

Moeti encouraged Tanzania and Burundi to roll out the Covid-19 vaccines, assuring that they were safe to protect people after having passed through the necessary international standards.

“Members of the scientific community are the ones discovering, developing and testing vaccines, not the WHO. They conform to international standards even for those recommended for emergency use,” she said when reacting to a question from a Burundian participant.

She added, “It is risky for the region and the world to have a portion of the population that has been vaccinated and the other that hasn’t. Therefore, Tanzania and Burundi should rollout for the vaccines. They are safe for our people.”

Moeti gave the assurance after Tanzania and Burundi made a stance to rollout for the vaccines after the final testing and approval of the inoculations.

Apart from calling for collaboration efforts to improve infrastructure and investment in the health sector, the WHO boss for Africa emphasized the need for prioritizing health workers, the elderly and people with chronic diseases in provision of vaccines.

She was seconded by the president of the Ghana Registered Nurses and Midwives Association, Perpetual Ofori-Ampofo, who said more investment was required to develop infrastructure and personnel and achieve universal healthcare by 2030.

The chair, Secretariat and Central Africa Regional Representative, Africa NCDs Network (ANN), Mr Ferdinant Sonyuy, said people with diabetes, hypertension and obesity have core morbidity, therefore should be given priority during vaccination provision.