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From right – ICAP Director Amy Cunningham, US Mission Representative, Emily Shaffer and First Lady Mama Salma Kikwete
People of Miono Welcome Launch of New Laboratory with Mama Kikwete and USG Representatives
October 5, 2009
Pwani Region, Miono: Sunday 4th, October 2009, marked the official opening of a new laboratory at the Miono Health Center. WAMA Foundation Chairwoman and First Lady Salma Kikwete, Emily Shaffer from the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania, and Amy Cunningham from Columbia University's International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment (ICAP) WAMA presided over the festive inaugural ceremony. Established with support from the American people through the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief in partnership with the Government of Tanzania, the new laboratory will provide much needed laboratory services to the more than 65,000 people of Miono.
The renovation of the 29-year-old building, once used as a kitchen, into a fully equipped laboratory represents another milestone in the joint effort of the people of Tanzania and the American people to fight HIV/AIDS and build a solid healthcare structure with quality services available at every jurisdictional level. Previously, the Miono Health Center transported patient samples once per week to the closest referral lab over 80 km away. In what is a common problem for rural health centers, the limited accessibility of advanced laboratory services for HIV and other diseases in Miono made it difficult to start life-preserving treatment because patients had to wait for a long time for their test results. Now the health center can perform advanced diagnostic, staging, and monitoring tests throughout the week. This is in addition to the host of free services available at the Miono Care and Treatment Center including Anteretroviral Treatment (ART), HIV counseling and testing, programs to prevent transmission of HIV from mother to child (PMTCT), and support services for pregnant women.
In her prepared remarks, Mama Kikwete underscored the importance of the laboratory services in protecting maternal and child health, “Tanzania will be free from HIV if we can prevent transmission to the new generation. With the laboratory services available, it is easy to prevent mother to child transmission, to test, diagnose and treat children very early. Parents should be responsible to ensure that we care and protect our children”.
The American people, through ICAP, has provided considerable material, financial and technical support to the Pwani region in the past year, improving infrastructure, laboratory and clinical care services and building broad capacity for the health system to provide quality HIV care and treatment.
The support of Miono Laboratoty is part of ongoing U.S. Government support to Tanzania. By the end of this fiscal year, America will have provided over $817 million to Tanzania towards combating HIV/AIDS and is part of overall U.S. Government direct and multilateral assistance to Tanzania of more than 750 billion Tanzanian shillings.
