TGNP conducts a Gender-Responsive SAM Exercise in the Health Sector

 

• Health workers residing in Dispensary premises to be relocated

• Water challenge at the clinic highlighted

• Village leadership to oversee Dispensary waste incinerators

By Our Reporter, Kondoa; dejkt@gmail.com

Health workers at the Mafai Village Dispensary in Haubi Ward, Kondoa District Council, who were living in wards intended for maternal and child health services, have been instructed to find alternative housing to allow the wards to be utilized for their intended purpose.

SAM team during the visit to Mafai Dispensary 

Speaking in response to issues raised during the Gender-Responsive Social Accountability Monitoring (SAM) exercise conducted by the Tanzanian Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) in the health sector, the Acting Executive Director of the Kondoa District Council, Mashauri Visenti, stated that the health workers at the Mafai Dispensary, who were residing in the maternal and child health wards, should move to rented houses in the village to allow for efficient delivery of maternal and child health services in those rooms. This also ensures the safety of the equipment in the clinic.

"Since we have completed a year of operation for this Dispensary, we advise that those wards be vacated to further enhance the maternal and child health services in our clinic," said Mashauri.

Previously addressing this matter, the Health Secretary of the Kondoa District Council Lameck Mmaaga, mentioned that these workers were initially new and were deployed to establish the new Dispensary. They requested to reside in those rooms initially to become familiar with the environment and to find housing in the village.

Gender Responsive Social Accountability Monitoring (SAM) Facilitator; Mr. Deogratius Temba, conducted the Pre-SAM training for the team. 

"Now that they are acclimated to the environment and have spent over a year, initially we allowed this because they were establishing services in that village. We will write a letter to instruct them to find housing in the village so that the services can continue unobstructed. It's also not hygienic for health workers to live within the hospital or treatment rooms," stated Mmbaga.

SAM Traning was highly participatory

Presenting the SAM results to the Council stakeholders and Management, the SAM Facilitator from the Tanzanian Gender Networking Programme (TGNP), Deogratius Temba, noted that despite the budgetary challenges and the delivery of gender-sensitive health services, the Kondoa District Council had strived to allocate a gender-Responsive health budget, which also led to receiving a clean audit report according to the Controller and Auditor General's (CAG) report for 2021/2022.

Temba advised the Council to prioritize properly using and maintaining maternal and child health equipment. For instance, at the Mafai Dispensary, the maternal and child health wards are being used for accommodation, and the room that is currently serving as a ward and labor room is situated openly near the Outpatient Department (OPD). This lacks privacy for women in labor.

"Due to the non-use of the dedicated maternal and child health ward, the preservation and maintenance of maternal and child health equipment, as well as modern machines purchased for these purposes, are compromised. For instance, valuable machines like the Oxygen machine, newborn nasal suction machine, and modern sterilizer were found lying on the floor," Temba said, adding:

"We didn't observe any budget allocation for the Dispensary to ensure access to clean and safe water for the needs of delivering mothers. Even the nearby well at the Mafai Dispensary hasn't been utilized. Additionally, the women giving birth at the Dispensary lack access to water." Temba stated.

SAM team during the Analysis and Document review

Furthermore, the Gender-Responsive  SAM team recommended that the Council allocate a budget for staff housing, as there are half-built staff houses for health professionals that were constructed by the community but have been stalled for a long time. In the 2021/2022 fiscal year, no budget was allocated for rural health staff housing. For example, the staff house at the Mafai Dispensary, built by the community and has remained at the construction stage since 2014, is now deteriorating.

Oxygen machine and newborn nasal suction machine were found lying on the floor 

A modern sterilizer was found lying on the floor 

The Councilor of the Haubi Ward, Paulo Irovya, where the clinic is situated, pledged to convene a Ward Development Committee (WDC) meeting to devise strategies for addressing the challenges seen at the Dispensary, particularly those that are within their capacity, rather than solely relying on the Council's budget, which may not fully address all community challenges.

In the meeting, the Chairman of the Mafai Village, Mursal Juma Doiyya, promised to convene a village meeting and encourage villagers to construct waste incinerators at the clinic, as well as to continue the construction of staff houses, which have reached a construction phase suitable for housing two families.