Tanzania Posts Corporation (TPC) has signed an agreement with a private logistic and courier firm to transport biological specimens from remote areas to centres with medical laboratory facilities.
The five -year business agreement with Tutume Worldwide Limited will allow transportation of the specimens for testing of various diseases such as Tuberculosis, HIV and the Covid-19.
Speaking during the signing ceremony in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday Minister for Information, Communication and Information Technology, Nape Nnauye said the move will not only help to bring health services closer to the citizens but also improve accessibility.
"The aim of the government is to increase access to health services to a number of citizens ... more efforts are being made to ensure that Tanzanians have better future....and one of the most important area is access to health services," he said.
He added that the partnership between the two institutions will enable the government to achieve its goal of strengthening health services nationwide, especially in rural areas.
The minister said the government recognizes the contribution of the private sector in bringing development to the country while instructing the organization to continue working with the private sector as well as other government institutions for the benefit of citizens and the nation in general.
Nape further asked Tutume and other transporters in the country to get ready for using e residential addresses system which will help to facilitate timely delivery of goods and services.
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Speaking Earlier, Postmaster General, Mr Macrine Mbodo said that transportation of laboratory samples will be done in processes whereby the samples will be collected at the primary health care centres and sent to secondary health centres for storing and process them and finally they will be sent to the laboratory for testing.
He noted that TPC is expected to increase the employment opportunities for youths particularly bodaboda riders who will be used to transport the samples from rural areas to the respective labs for testing.
"In implementing this role, TPC has recruited 450 motorcyclists hrough an agent countrywide," he said.
The Chief Executive Officer of Tutume, Mr Misana Manyama ensured good performance during the execution of the project since they are enough experience in transportation.
"We pledge to abide by all terms of the agreement to act as an agent of the Tanzania Posts Corporation in transporting the medical samples and its results from primary health care centers (Spoke) to secondary health care centers (Hub) countrywide... We believe that our competence in this area will give us the opportunity to work with the TPC in other areas," he said.
Tutume Worldwide Limited is a private limited company that provides a specialist logistic service and courier solutions to the healthcare industry, focusing on human blood samples, Laboratory and Pharmaceutical commodities.
