As it seeks to improve health services, the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) plans to conduct medical screening for its members and the public in general.
Director General of NHIF, Mr Emmanuel Humba
Addressing a stakeholders meeting here, the Director General of NHIF, Mr Emmanuel Humba, said the initiative aims at detecting diseases in their early stages and thus reduce costs for treatment. “Prevention is better than cure.
Majority of Tanzanians do not have a tradition of checking their health status regularly and they seek medical services when their conditions have worsened,” Mr Humba observed.
According to the NHIF boss, early detection of diseases enables early treatment and reduce chances of the sickness to get worse. It is also less costly to treat a disease which is still in its early stage.
The screening process will go hand in hand with sensitization to residents on the significance of making contributions for health insurance either through the NHIF or Community Health Fund (CHF), Mr Humba noted.
He said the insurance fund would also continue with its programme of deploying specialist doctors to rural areas to enable patients in those areas get services of the experienced health practitioners.
Speaking at the occasion, Coast’s Regional Commissioner, Ms Mwantumu Mahiza, pleaded with NHIF to improve the Tumbi Regional Hospital to enable it serve more people. It was earlier revealed at the meeting that the NHIF had provided a loan of 363m/- to the hospital to enable it acquire modern equipment.
By ALVAR MWAKYUSA, Tanzania Daily News
