Tanzania is set to strengthen its position as a regional hub for advanced cardiac treatment and surgery with the signing of a 112bn/- agreement with China to expand the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) at Mloganzila. The expansion will enable the institute to double its capacity to attend to patients and perform cardiovascular procedures. The JKCI currently handles an average of 250,000 patients annually, performing more than 3,000 catheterisation laboratory procedures and 800 open-heart surgeries each year.
The new 100-bed hospital at Mloganzila will be equipped with three Cath Labs and two state-of-the-art operating theatres. This will provide a foundation for the institute to strengthen its position as a leading cardiac centre in East Africa and a centre of excellence for cardiovascular medicine. The facility will bring together advanced patient care, specialist training, research, innovation and regional capacity building.
The agreement marks a shift from commitments and frameworks to actual implementation of the project, according to Permanent Secretary Dr Grace Maghembe. She said the project was a practical demonstration of commitments made during the Ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), held in Beijing in September 2024. The project had been instrumental in advancing the longstanding Tanzania-China partnership.
The impact of the partnership is extending beyond Tanzania’s borders, with the country increasingly providing specialised medical services to patients from other African countries. Tanzania’s growing capacity in specialised healthcare is also contributing to the expansion of medical tourism, particularly among patients from East Africa and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.
JKCI Executive Director, Dr Peter Kisenge, said the Mloganzila expansion would provide a foundation for the institute to strengthen its position as a leading cardiac centre in East Africa. He said the project had come at the right time as the government, through the Ministry of Health, was expanding access to healthcare under the Universal Health Insurance (UHI) programme.
The project will benefit patients from neighbouring and other African countries, including Malawi, Comoros, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Uganda and Nigeria, who already access services at JKCI. Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania Chen Mingjian described JKCI as a shining example of Tanzania-China cooperation, saying its growing reputation as a leading specialised cardiac hospital in East and Central Africa was enabling patients to access quality medical services closer to home.
China will continue deepening health cooperation with Tanzania through medical teams, skills transfer, training and provision of medical equipment. The ambassador noted that Chinese medical teams had treated hundreds of thousands of Tanzanian patients over the years. The expansion is expected to support the government’s wider objective of ensuring that more Tanzanians can access specialised and super-specialised healthcare services.
Key points
- The JKCI expansion will double its capacity to attend to patients and perform cardiovascular procedures.
- The project is a practical demonstration of commitments made during the Ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
- The expansion will support the government’s wider objective of ensuring that more Tanzanians can access specialised and super-specialised healthcare services.
