AT LEAST 150bn/- has been saved from referral treatments outside the country in the past four years, on account of vast technological and capacity improvements at the Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (MOI).

Dr Mpoki Ulisubisya, the MOI executive director, said at a press briefing here yesterday on the institute’s progress over the past four years, explaining that it has provided specialized services to 7,366 patients, with the localised treatment cost reaching 68.45bn/-.

Had the patients been referred abroad, a total of 218.28bn/- would have been spent, implying 149.83bn/- being saved, he stated, noting that with the improved provision of health services at MOI, individuals may seek overseas treatments on personal grounds.

From 2021 to 2025, a total of 816,383 patients in outpatient and emergency services were treated, with an annual increase of 3,023 patients on average, where 35,170 in-patients were treated, averaging 453 additional patients per year, he said.

In addition, 30,289 patients underwent surgeries, accounting for 86.2 percent of admitted patients, he said, indicating that over the past four years, MOI has successfully introduced ten super-specialized services, previously requiring transfer for treatment abroad.

The new services include minimally invasive brain surgery (62 patients treated), revision hip and knee surgery (74), minimally invasive spine surgery (17), stroke treatment through major blood vessels in the thigh (41) and correction of scoliosis (spinal deformity)  with 64 patients.

Others are brain tumour removal through nasal access (41), chronic back pain treatment (607), specialized and international patient services (6,106), bionic hand implantation (six patients) and 3D-printed prosthetic limbs (four patients).

Other specialized services significantly reduced patient referrals abroad, including hip replacement surgeries, with 728 patients treated, knee replacement surgeries (636) minimally invasive knee surgery (1,115), brain aneurysm surgery (14) and hip fracture surgeries (395), he further stated,

He listed other specialized services as including hydrocephalus and Spina bifida surgery in children whereby 1,797 patients were treated, brain surgery with craniotomy (815) and spine surgery (1,061).

The success is tied to  medical equipment upgrades as the government has facilitated MOI in acquiring modern equipment for intensive care units, ventilators, monitors, orthopaedic beds and an advanced ambulance, altogether costing 1.3bn/-, he said.

The government has also enabled the institute to acquire a new MRI and CT scan machine , all at the total cost of 4.4bn/-,while upgrading operating room beds, ward beds, medicine cabinets and sterilization equipment, at a cost of 2.18bn/-.

Infrastructure development was undertaken in different areas such as construction of a patient and visitor lounge which has served over 14,600 patients, he said, pointing at the introduction of premier international services serving 6,106 patients by January 2025.

MOI has built a new outpatient department (OPD) building costing 10.8bn/- accommodating 1,500 patients per day, he stated, similarly citing the renovation of the former Tumaini Hospital in Dar es Salaam into an outpatient facility, costing 1.5bn/- and was upwards of 78 percent to completion, .

There was also the construction of an oxygen plant that was fully completed at 1.68bn/-, whose increased output has saved 1.15m/- per day previously spent on purchasing oxygen, he stated.

MOI has extended its services to hospitals across the country through medical outreach programs, benefiting 44,096 patients so far, with 5,382 surgeries performed at various hospitals, including Nyangao, Mtwara, Ndanda, Nkinga, Mnazi Mmoja, and Morogoro, he said.

There were also MOI mobile clinics in Kigamboni, Mbagala, Temeke, Gongo la Mboto, Bagamoyo and Morogoro, which served 2,224 patients altogether, he added.