The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank approved a loan of $75 million to Tanzania to fund the second stage of the Centre of Excellence for Skills and Tertiary Education in Biomedical Sciences project.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $83.3 million, with the Tanzanian government providing counterpart funding to the tune of $8.33 million. The project will be implemented over a five-year period (2025-2029).
The overriding aim is to develop a highly qualified and competitive workforce that can endeavour to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease in Tanzania, the East African Community and the continent as a whole, by supporting the augmentation of skills, infrastructure and high-quality training.
More specifically, the project - approved on 27 November 2024 - will oversee the building of a 600-bed cardiology teaching hospital complete with cutting-edge medical equipment. It will also facilitate the training of 120 university staff members and 100 students (of which 45 per cent will be women in each group) to treat cardiovascular disease patients locally, thereby cutting costs and improving access to treatment for the community.
The project will also ensure that the Centre of Excellence is fully operational for biomedical sciences training and treating patients with cardiovascular disease; this was achieved during the first phase (construction and execution of the centre's support facilities, including the administrative and training units) on the Mloganzila campus of the public Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS).
This complex is one of East Africa's Centres of Excellence for Skills and Tertiary Education in Biomedical Sciences. Its ultimate objective is to train highly qualified human resources in the cardiovascular sciences (prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation).
The training delivered during the project's second phase will complement that of the 38 MUHAS educators trained during the first phase. It is estimated that 20 percent of the students will receive a full scholarship. These include qualified young people from disadvantaged or low-income socio-economic backgrounds, particularly women and people with disabilities.
"The Bank is supporting the proposed Centre of Excellence in Cardiovascular Sciences in Tanzania as it is expected to deliver substantial health-related and economic benefits by improving the management and treatment of cardiovascular disease," said Patricia Laverley, the African Development Bank's Country Manager for Tanzania. "By focusing on the training of specialised human resources and the creation of a state-of-the-art cardiology teaching hospital, the project will help to reduce morbidity and mortality rates, improve productivity, and lower healthcare costs."
