By
Eugenia Madhidha, Kiteto
A local Social Accountability
Monitoring (SAM) team in Kiteto district, revealed some shocking findings
affecting the welfare of Tanzanians in 16 health facilities visited recently.
During a public dialogue
organised by the community SAM team to share findings, it was revealed that at
the Lesoit health facility, nurses used a bench as examining bed while at
Loitepes facility, one of the delivery beds was found at the doctor in charge’s
house.
The SAM team formed to follow
up on accountability issues in the district also explained that water is a
great challenge in Kiteto district. In most facilities patients are advised to
carry water from home when visiting the health facilities. At Ngabolo
dispensary, the SAM team saw “flush” toilets full of stones and sands because
patients were forced to use them due to lack of running water. The SAM team
explained that this could have been caused by poor planning and they asked how
the district could construct ‘flush’ toilets when they know that water is a
problem in Kiteto.
At Songambele facility, nurses
sometimes used their own money to buy water for patients. Lack of water is a public health issue
increasing the risk of diseases such as cholera outbreaks. Moreover, most of
the health facilities visited by SAM team were closed during working hours for
lack of human resources.
At Irkiushi health facility, a
drip was found connected with support from the window. Citizens complained that every
time they visit the facility, either it will be closed during working hours or
there are no medicines hence they do not rely on the facility at all.
The Kiteto District Executive
Director (DED), Ms Jane Mutagurwa who was responding to issues raised from the
findings was shocked by the poor operating conditions of the health facilities
in the district. Expressing her
disappointment she said, “What is the delivery bed doing in the doctor’s house?
You people have to change or do you want me to be transferred back to Dar es
Salaam?”
Contributing to the debate, a
community member, Assam Konge blamed the Councilors for not being accountable
to the people and asked them to wake up and take their responsibilities
seriously. “The Councilors should use all means to improve health services in
our communities.”
DED Mutagurwa promised Kiteto
citizens that the embarrassing issues unveiled by the SAM team will soon be
history. She said, “We are going to have full council meeting and l believe by
then some of the challenges raised from the health facilities will be taken
care of, before our next meeting”.
The SAM public dialogue was facilitated
by Sikika, a health advocacy organization after conducting training on SAM for
almost 3 weeks. The team, comprised of members
from the community, Councilors, representatives from Ward Executive Officers,
representatives from health governing committees, religious leaders as well as
local based Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).
The team was tasked to follow
up on quality of service delivery issues, seek clarifications from service
providers and demand for accountability. Participants of the public dialogue
included the representatives from the citizens, Councilors, Ward Executive Officers;
District Medical Officer, DED, SAM team etc.
Speaking on behalf of Sikika,
the Head of Programs, Mr Josaphat Mshighati said he was pleased with the
exercise and that the organisation will proceed to other districts like Iramba,
Singida Rural, Kondoa, Simanjiro and
Mpwapwa. “We believe that the SAM exercise will bring a lot of change
especially in the health sector…we have already seen some positive changes-
Councilors have made a commitment to address all issues in the next full
council meeting and citizens have started questioning authorities on the level
of service delivery including construction of flush toilets in Kiteto where
water is a critical problem.”
