Introduction
Tanzania resembles most developing countries that suffer from economic problems and extensive rural poverty. However contrary to many African countries, Tanzania survives in peace and tranquility since attaining political independence from Britain four decades ago
ICT in the Health Sector
Health Centres in Tanzania have been transformed through the use of ICTs:
- ICTs have been storming the organizational change and support in the health care industry
- ICTs and Open Source Software (OSS) in specific have been realized fundamentals to enhancing knowledge and cost effective and efficient Management to better health
- ICT has helped Muhimibili National Hospital which is in Dar es salaam, Tanzania in record sharing without any threat to patient privacy
- Muhimbili national Hospital has also been using ICTs in:
- Health Information Management System (HIMS), interlinking all healthcare delivery operations
- In/Out Patients Management-Online Admission and Appointments
- Wards Management
- Pharmacy management
- Revenue Collection and Cost Management
- Medical Information Management
- Laboratory and Radiology Information Systems and Personnel manageme
- The Most exciting news has been the availability of Open Source Software (OSS) in the health services delivery. There have been uses of healthcare software which now seems to move from hospital centered departmental system to patient-centered medical records that are distributed across network. In Tanzania there is an association to promote the use of the Open Source Software in Tanzania that is known as TAFOSA. University Computing Centre (UCC) is one of the pioneers of the OSS initiatives together with other ICT services.
- There have been frequent provision of the awareness and training on application of ICT in Health Sector
- Development of HMIS which is based on Microsoft Access and Visual Basic
- Customizing and implementation of Care2X (Integrated PHP and MySQL web based IS). University Computing Centre is currently customizing the Care2X for Hindu Mandal Hospital and University of Dar es salaam Health Care both in Dar es salaam, Tanzania.
- The NPK Technologies has been implementing ICT at District level. For example it has implemented Health Information System at Tandale Health Centre in Kinondoni Municipal, Dar es Salaam Tanzania.
- ELCT in Tanzania has connected 18 out of its 20 ELCT Hospitals connected to the online procurement and inventory control which is known as MEMS. The MEMS provides the system to Hospital that makes contract to buy drugs through them.
- There have been many health workshops, trainings, seminars and systems development that have in most cases been sponsored by some institution like IICD (International Information and communication development) based in Netherlands, SWOPnet (Share With Other People Network), TGDLC (Tanzania Global Development and Learning Centre)
Policy issues in build Information Society in Tanzania
- Bureaucrats’ worries over IT costs seem to be the main hurdle. For example people would ask: where is the money to bridge the digital divide and building information society? How do they acquire the expertise to develop infrastructure and install the necessary ICTs?
- Head of state and the top government bureaucrats would like to question policy proposal, why the format of annual national budgets should be rectified to allocate more money for introducing ICT lessons in schools, while some schools lack essential facilities such as electricity, telephone and enough desks.
- ICT training in teachers’ colleges started after agreement signing on May 17, 2005 between the Swedish Embassy in Dar es salaam and MoEC (Ministry of Education and Culture), where Swedish International Agency for Development Aid (SIDA) pledged to grant about US$ . Four Million in support of the project. The National ICT Policy of Tanzania released in March 2003 passed prioritization challenges as well but has yet to address some criticisms. “What are the future benefits of ICT in the impoverished rural Tanzania?” and “Where would the money for bridging the digital-divide come from?” According to the National ICT Policy, most of ICT services are limited to urban areas due to lack of telecommunication networks and electricity in most rural areas. An official record indicates that by 2002, Tanzania had a low tele-density, at 1 telephone lines per 1,000 people for the fixed and mobile cellular lines. The mobile phone subscribers were 81 per 10,000 people. Dar es slaam, the de-facto capital, had five fixed lines and 10 phone subscribers per 100 people.
- It becomes evident that Local Government councilors would like to question IT consultants why their council’s budgets should be changed to allocate more money to IT solutions, while some dispensaries and Schools lack essential facilities such as electricity, telephone and stable water supply. The consultants should be able to answer these questions and prove that selfish behavior and interests are not their missions. For example Kinondoni District Council in Dar es salaam is one of the example which adopted modern ICT solutions.
IT Consultants should therefore work to convince that ICT can generate income and became sustainable.
It is evident that in Tanzania five years ago internet café were available only in Dar es salaam but today there are almost in all towns because people have realized its benefits.
Some Notable Benefits Of ICT For Rural Communities in Tanzania
- How modern ICT such as mobile phones, computers and internet can effectively enhance the livelihood of small scale farmers who form the spine of most African economies? Tanzania who has 34.6 million people suffers due to rampart rural poverty and poor performance of agricultural sector. Proper application of modern technologies, like biotechnology and ICT, can rapidly reduce these problems, says the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in its 2001 Human Development Report (HDR).
- In September, 2001 a project to gather and disseminate relevant information regarding prices in local and international markets named as CROMABU-Crop Market Bureau (www.cromabu.com ). This project aims at empowering small-scale farmers economically by enhancing their access to price information and insights in trade flows. CROMABU which is based in Magu area of Mwanza near to the southern shores of Lake Victoria provides employment to primary and secondary school leavers as a channel of communication between CROMABU and the targeted small-scale farmers in Magu.
- Information on crop prices gathered from local markets and prices of foreign markets downloaded from the internet sources are compiled by CROMABU and stored in a database, thereafter a simple price index is prepared in Ki-swahili language and disseminated to farming villages. CROMABU distributes market statements with price index regularly. The youth take them to targeted villages using bicycles provided by the project.
- Another information method used is through the CROMABU community-training centre for peasant farmers’ and youth groups. The youth trained by this centre are charged fee but could pay part of it thorough temporary employment by collecting data from the local markets. They are also engaged in information dissemination to farmers. Such projects are to be replicated in other rural areas with crop marketing problems.
Who is Petro?
Petro Mugandila holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Computer Science of the University of Dar es salaam, Tanzania. In his first degree he pursued Bachelor of Science with Education Degree also from the University of Dar es salaam. He is currently working with the University of Dar es salaam at its Computing Centre as the Academic Programs Manager. Other positions he has held include: Training Manager, Branch Operations Manager and Branch Manager. He has about six years of job experience within the University of Dar es salaam in the IT field"
You can contact Petro by:
Skype: mugandila
msn/yahoo: mugandila
E-mail: mgandila@udsm.ac.tz
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