MOUNT MERU COMMENDED FOR THE QUALITY OF DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS

Posted on: 2025-11-25 08:52:10

The Mount Meru Regional Referral Hospital has been commended for implementing development projects with high quality and efficiency—an achievement expected to enhance their sustainability and improve healthcare services for the community.

These commendations were issued by the leadership of the Tanzania Country Coordinating Mechanism (TNCM), the body overseeing all projects funded by the Global Fund in Tanzania, during a visit led by the Chair of the Project Management Committee, Mr. Godlisten Moshi, who toured and inspected the implementation of the projects.

Speaking after the visit, Mr. Moshi said they were satisfied with how the projects were executed, praising the excellent supervision carried out by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the hospital management, and stressing the importance of maintaining the projects so they last for many years.

“We have witnessed firsthand the major work done by the Government in collaboration with development partners in Arusha Region. We have seen the construction of the emergency department, a building and installation of a medical oxygen production plant—which is now ready for use—as well as a modern incinerator. We commend the Ministry of Health and Mount Meru Hospital for the great supervision of these projects, which will help citizens receive quality and reliable healthcare services,” said Moshi.

Given the significant investment made by the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania alongside health partners—including the purchase of equipment and installation of modern and high-cost machinery—the Ministry of Health is preparing guidelines for preventive and corrective maintenance to ensure that equipment is repaired quickly and does not remain out of service for long.

Dr. Hussein Athuman from the Ministry of Health, Department of Policy and Planning, under the Health Systems Strengthening Desk, who was part of the inspection team visiting the projects implemented by the Government in partnership with the Global Fund at the hospital, explained that the Ministry has begun preparing the guidelines, which will be completed soon as directed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry.

For his part, Acting Medical Officer In-Charge of Mount Meru Hospital, Dr. Kipapi Mlambo, said these projects have brought great benefits to the hospital—especially increasing public trust, which has led to a rise in the number of people seeking healthcare services. He also confirmed that completion of the medical oxygen production project will reduce operational costs, as the hospital previously spent heavily on purchasing oxygen cylinders from private companies; now, production will take place within the hospital.

“The hospital used to spend a lot of money purchasing medical oxygen from private suppliers, but now we expect those costs to decrease because we will be producing oxygen directly here, and patients who need it will benefit greatly,” said Dr. Kipapi.

Speaking about the waste incineration project, Dr. Kipapi added that the new system has saved substantial amounts of money previously used to operate the old incinerator, which could burn only a small volume of waste and required long hours to complete the process. The new machine can incinerate over 600 kilograms within three hours, saving money, time, and valuable resources.

The medical oxygen production plant will have the capacity to produce 56,000 liters of medical oxygen per hour, while the current demand of Mount Meru Hospital is 400,000 liters per day. This means that within eight hours, the plant will produce more than the required amount, giving the hospital the ability to supply oxygen to other healthcare facilities in the Arusha Region.