Ifakara. Ifakara Health Institute and partners today unveil here a new building that will house a clinic for heart and lung diseases. The new clinic services target a population of one million people mainly in the Kilombero Valley and surrounding areas. Morogoro Regional Medical Officer (RMO), Dr. Kusirye Ukio, is chief guest.

The clinic is located within the St. Francis Referral Hospital (SFRH) in Ifakara and will be part of the hospital’s specialized clinics. The facility, sits in a 163.85 meter-squire area, comprises of four doctors’ rooms for consulting patients, a public reception area, and data center. The clinic building was built at a cost of TZS 97 million.

The clinic, officially known as “The Else Kroner Centre for Heart and Lung Diseases (EKC-HLD),” was built through a project known as “Tackling the hidden epidemic of non-communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa,” which is funded by the Else Kroner Fresenius Foundation, Germany, and it is being implemented by Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) – Tanzania in collaboration with Charite University Hospital - Germany, Swiss TPH, Switzerland, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland and St Francis Referral hospital (SFRH) - Tanzania. The project runs for to 27 months, and at the end of the project, the clinic is planned to remain self-sustainable.

The new clinic will offer clinical services, including screening, diagnosis, management, and follow-up of patients with heart and lung diseases; and offer training and educational services, targeting healthcare workers to increase their awareness about prevention diagnosis and management of common heart and lung diseases. #

Read the press release.