Dar es Salaam — THE Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and AIDS has issued guidelines to all hospitals in the country to follow Parliament's guidelines on strengthening mother and child health programs.
Speaking today in Dar es Salaam when the committee visited Amana Referral Hospital, the Committee's Chairman Dr Johanes Lukumay commended the hospital for strengthening newborn care with an innovative approach to caring for newborns.
"I am very happy to see how good the newborn ward is in this hospital. The current policy emphasizes a procedure called "Zero Separation", meaning that when a baby is born, he is very close to his mother. Here they also use the Kangaroo Mother Care method, where the baby is close to his mother's chest.
He added "We have seen and have been told that this method is very helpful in improving child health and reducing infant mortality.
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Dr Lukumay said the hospital has taken further steps for premature babies by introducing an innovation called "Kangaroo Father Care", where the father also participates in raising the baby by holding it close to his chest.
He said the move is especially helpful when the mother has given birth to more than one child, for example twins or more, so the father can help care for one of the children.
"This is a very big step. I would like other hospitals in the country to follow the example of this hospital, because we have been told that when the father holds the baby close to his chest, even the mother gains psychological stability and milk increases, which improves the health of the child.
He also commended the government for the implementation of Universal Health Coverage, which will be implemented nationwide, a step that will ensure that children under the age of five will receive free health services.
"In this type of insurance, pregnant women will receive free services, the elderly will receive free services, and poor households will also be guaranteed access to quality health services free of charge.
In addition, the committee has issued instructions to the Ministry of Health to look into how to increase staff at this hospital to further improve services.
Deputy Minister of Health Dr Florence Samizi said they have received instructions from the Parliamentary committee, especially regarding the shortage of nurses, explaining that President Samia promised to recruit 5,000 health workers, and the process of distributing these workers is already underway across the country.
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"We assure you that we will continue to collaborate with the relevant authorities to ensure that more nurses are sent here to Amana Hospital, especially in the neonatal ward.
For his part, the Medical Officer in Charge at Amana Hospital, Dr Brayson Kimweri, has thanked the committee for visiting them and promised to consider and implement all the instructions given to them.
