Progress in healthcare provision for around 160,000 people in the Mbeya region

You can now know if you have tuberculosis (TBC) just a few hours after being tested. Thanks to new methods of testing, for example with the fluorescence microscope, TBC diagnosis is much faster and more accurate. The mobile diagnosis and training centre was officially opened by Jakaya Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, in the southern region of Mbeya on 30 October. As well as the microscope, the modern vehicle is equipped with other high-performance laboratory instruments with which TBC and HIV infections can be reliably diagnosed within a very short space of time. After an infection has been confirmed, treatment can then take place at the nearest health centre.

‘The fact that the mobile lab comes to them makes a tremendous difference to the healthcare services provided to the approximately 160,000 people in the Mbeya region,’ explains Inge Baumgarten, manager of the multi-sector HIV/AIDS component of the German-Tanzanian healthcare programme coordinated by GTZ on behalf of BMZ. Until now, many people were not tested or treated because they were unable to undertake the long and expensive journey to health centres, which are generally located in towns.
‘At least as important as the diagnosis is that the nine-member crew also carries out wide-ranging educational programmes,’ says Ms Baumgarten. For example, each evening when the mobile laboratory makes a stopover in a village, the team organises events to teach people how they can protect themselves from TBC and HIV infection.

‘The mobile diagnosis and training centre is one component in the extensive cooperation between German and Tanzanian institutions on research, science and practical work, and it is an excellent example of how development cooperation can reach people directly. The Tanzanian President himself is convinced that this works better with strong partners,’ says Ms Baumgarten. The European Commission and the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research are providing financial support. The NIMR-Mbeya Medical Research Programme, in cooperation with the University of Munich, provided the original idea and the expertise. The American Walter Reed Army Institute of Research supports the mobile HIV diagnosis, and the educational work is coordinated by GTZ.