ZANZIBAR President Dr Hussein Ali Mwinyi has expressed satisfaction with the successful establishment of the Zanzibar Health Services Fund (ZHSF), while praising setting up medical camps for delivering specialized treatment to many ordinary people.

He made these remarks yesterday at the launch of the Ali Hassan Mwinyi memorial medical camp in Mangapwani, Unguja North, affirming that the fund has enabled enrolling many people, especially employees, for use in public and private health facilities.

The camps were designed to offer specialized services that significantly reduce costly patient referrals especially across borders, he said, pointing at extensive efforts by the Zanzibar Health authorities in recent years to bring major transformations to the health sector.

These alterations include strengthening health infrastructure, increasing healthcare professionals and improving healthcare workers’ welfare. Other initiatives include enhanced access to medicines, digital patient information systems and improved funding for health services.

The current medical camp brings together specialists from Kenya, the United States and local colleagues, which the president said is a "living testament to international solidarity and the government's sincere commitment to collaborate with stakeholders for quality healthcare."

He praised the free medical camp foundation named after the second Union president and Zanzibar president for just over one year, for organizing the event, appealing to Zanzibar residents to seize the opportunity for health screenings and treatment.

He pledged sustained engagement to improve services in partnership with various development partners over the next five years, while Nassor Ahmed Mazrui, the Health minister, said that medical camps have eased the burden of foreign referrals and enhanced skills of local professionals.

He affirmed that the government was steadily strengthening health services especially in combating non-communicable diseases (NCDs), reducing preventable disabilities and avoidable deaths.

He also outlined plans for further improvements in hospital infrastructure, with planned construction of four new regional hospitals across the two islands.

Dr Mngereza Mzee Miraji, the permanent secretary, admitted that certain challenges persist, including a shortage of specialists and inadequate infrastructure for treating a range of NCD patients.

This compels referring patient referrals abroad, with heart, cancer and orthopedic complications being the most common cases, he said, pointing at efforts to address these challenges.

Training local specialists and organizing elevated medical camps with development partners are key strategies, as the camps have helped reduce the number of referred patients/

About 25 health camps were facilitated in the past half year, involving local and international medics, including those from Saudi Arabia. Statistics show that 10,380 people accessed services through mobile medical units during the period, he added.