COMMUNITY HEALTH FUND HAS SIDELINED US ON DRUGS, SAY DIABETICS

Minister for Health and Community Welfare, Dr. Seif Rashid

By Fina Lyimo, The Citizen Correspondent

Rombo. The Community Health Fund (CHF) has come under fire from diabetics in Rombo District, Kilimanjiro Region, for allegedly neglecting them.

The Fund has been accused of not including diabetes in its health support programme, forcing the patients to buy the drugs from their pockets despite being CHF members.

The coordinator of diabetics in the district, Dr William Macha, said the problem has been compounded by shortage of drugs in the area.

“Even when they are available they are not given to us because diabetes is not covered by the health insurance scheme run by CHIF,” he said, without mentioning how many people in the district were diabetic.

The International Day Against Diabetes was marked in Rombo District last week with a ten kilometre walk.

Another constraint was shortage of refrigerators to preserve insulin and other medicines in health centres and other health facilities in the district.

Speaking during the climax of the event, the medical officer in charge of Huruma Hospital Dr Wilbroad Kyejo, urged diabetics to use the day to test their sugar levels.

Other non-communicable diseases are hypertension and heart complications.

During the tests, out of 864 people who turned up for the exercise, 17 were found with abnormally higher levels of sugar while 38 were found to be suffering from high blood pressure (HBP).

CREDIT SOURCE: THE CITIZEN