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5:42:00 AM
NAIROBI, Kenya
A healthy environment is integral to a healthy economy. As part of ensuring our environment remains a strong part of the economy, the Cabinet Secretary for Health (CS), Dr. Cleopa Mailu launched the Kenya Environmental Sanitation and Hygiene Policy (KESHP) and the Strategic Framework, on 18May 2016, to provide universal access to improved sanitation, as envisaged in the Constitution.

The CS also launched the Prototype County Environmental Health and Sanitation Bill, and the National ODF Kenya 2020 Campaign Framework.
The national policy and the strategic framework are aligned to the Sustainable Development Goal Number 6 on ensuring access to sanitation services and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all by 2030 while building on the progress and lessons learnt from the Millennium Development Goals.
These documents spell out key measures necessary to achieve sustained sanitation and hygiene service delivery in Kenya, including the elimination of open defecation by 2020.
The Open Defecation Free Campaign was initiated in 2007, and so far 3,369 out of 63,993 villages have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF) and the Ministry hopes to reach all villages by 2020, the Director of Public Health, Dr. Kepha Ombacho, has said.
The Director said the objective of KESHP is to increase the proportion of the population with access to improved sanitation to 100 percent by 2030 and ensure a clean and healthy environment for all in Kenya.
Currently, the ministry is focusing on eight strategic areas to achieve the sanitation goal, he elaborates.
“scaling up access to improved rural and urban sanitation, assuring clean and healthy environment free from public nuisances, fostering private sector participation and investment in sanitation, building governance and leadership capacity for sanitation and sustainable financing and investment for sanitation.’’
Other areas are building enabling legal and regulatory environment, establishing an effective research and development framework for sanitation and strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems for the sanitation sector.
Dr. Ombacho has affirmed that the policy documents have been distributed to 42 out of the 47 counties and content has been shared with County Executive Committee Members for Health and the Chairpersons of the County assembly health committees.
‘’Dissemination meetings have been held with civil Society and three regional meetings have been scheduled with county health representatives to discuss the implementation plans,’’ Dr. Ombacho disclosed.
The Ministry together with stakeholders in the WASH sector is currently in the process of developing a popular version of the four documents. This are abridged versions of the documents that will be distributed to members of the public. The Ministry is also working on a Sanitation Bill that will be presented to the Cabinet and later to parliament.
The Kenya Environmental Sanitation and Hygiene Policy and the strategic framework are in line with the Government’s commitment to provide excellent, high quality healthcare to all Kenyans.
Sanitation underpins a range of human rights and social, economic and cultural freedoms which includes the right to a clean and healthy environment; the right to the highest attainable standard of health; the right to accessible and adequate housing, food of acceptable quality, clean and safe water of adequate quantity; the right to education; the right to life; the right to equality; the right to privacy; and the right to human dignity.
The Director of Public Health said the Ministry of Health is committed to keeping people safe from environmental hazards and is working to promote a healthy environment.
‘’Your environment is everything around you—the air you breathe, the water you drink, the places where your food is grown or prepared, your workplace, and your home. When your environment is safe and healthy, you are more likely to stay healthy,’’ he stresses.
Environmental sanitation envisages promotion of health of the community by providing clean environment and breaking the cycle of disease. It depends on various factors that include hygiene status of the people, types of resources available, innovative and appropriate technologies according to the requirement of the community, socioeconomic development of the country, cultural factors related to environmental sanitation, political commitment, capacity building of the concerned sectors, social factors including behavioral pattern of the community, legislative measures adopted, and others.
In collaboration with key stakeholders, the Ministry is set to build a progressive, responsive and sustainable technologically-driven, evidence-based and client-centered health system for accelerated attainment of the highest standard of health to all Kenyans.
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5:42:00 AM
Investigations carried by the ‘Sunday News’ discovered that students use unsafe water for domestic purposes, including drinking, cooking, washing and worse of all, drinking the water fresh from the lake without boiling it first, while surrounding villages relieve themselves in the lake.
A cross-section of school teachers and students who were interviewed by this paper said the school is afflicted with myriads of challenges, including lack of electricity, shortage of teaching staff and classrooms which are in bad shape.
ABOUT 303 students from Kipili Secondary School located along the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Nkasi District, Rukwa Region, are in danger of contracting water borne diseases due to drinking unsafe and unclean water from the lake, since the school lacks proper water infrastructure.

They added that the school environment is inhospitable and unsociable to both teachers and their students. Vice-Head of the School, Mr Calisto Mapunda, admitted that students at the school fetch water directly from Lake Tanganyika and use it for domestic purposes and worse still they drink it without boiling.
“Despite such challenges, the school has no science teacher, which compels some of us to teach the subjects including biology, mathematics, physics and chemistry in Form One and Two because it is compulsory for them (students) to study all the nine subjects. The school has only nine teachers, all of them are teaching art subjects,” added Mr Mapunda. Expounding further, he said that class-rooms are in bad shape with rough floors, some of them have neither doors nor windows and the walls have developed huge cracks.
On his part, Mr Chaua Zawadi, a history and civic subject teacher at the school said that even the parents and people living in the school vicinity have abandoned the school, with the opinion that it is the government’s responsibility to run and manage it.
“The schools surroundings are infested with different species of snakes including cobra, such reptiles are a threat to the lives of the students, for instance, the boys’ dormitory has no doors …. Equally Lake Tanganyika is also infested with crocodiles which can easily attack students when they are either fetching water or swimming,” said Mr Zawadi.

Similar sentiments were echoed by several students, including Loveness Chaula, Manuel Kamanki, Hosana Kalikula and Joseph Kakunda, who added that it is very pit that they are forced to sleep on the floor in their dormitories due to shortage of beds.

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5:01:00 AM
Avoid mosquitos to avoid Zika virus. People catch Zika virus by being bitten by an infected Aedes mosquito – the same type of mosquito that spreads dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. Watch the video to learn how to protect yourself against being bitten by the Aedes mosquito by reducing breeding sites; using insect repellent regularly; wearing clothes light-coloured clothes that cover the whole body; and using physical barriers such as window screens, closed doors and windows.

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4:33:00 AM
According to a statement, this first-of-its-kind multi-country collaborative cassava breeding initiative in East and Southern Africa is part of a major activity of the new cassava varieties and clean seed to combat CBSD and CMD (5CP) project which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The project is led by International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) working in collaboration with the national agricultural research systems of Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where the trials are being conducted.
Disease resistance trials

The project is in its final year of implementation.
Dr Edward Kanju, IITA cassava breeder and coordinator of the 5CP project, said that preliminary results of the trials have already shown that several of the new varieties are virtually unaffected by CBSD and CMD, even in locations where disease pressure is extremely high from infected fields surrounding the trials. "Although in many of the countries the varieties are undergoing their first year of trials, our initial results are already showing good promise.

We will further validate the performance of these varieties by comparing them to local ones that have been selected as checks," he explained. This landmark regional initiative is aimed at speeding-up the breeding of cassava varieties with dual resistance to CMD and CBSD in the five countries where the diseases are of great concern. Each of the countries selected five of its best varieties in terms of performance against CMD and CBSD and shared them for the inter-country trials.
The planting materials first underwent a rigorous clean-up exercise to ensure they are virus-free before being distributed as tissue culture plantlets. This is the first time that breeders in the five countries have freely shared their best varieties in a concerted effort to tackle the two deadly diseases.
Dr James Legg, IITA virologist, highlighted another objective of the 5CP Project, which is the establishment of pilot clean seed distribution system in Tanzania, which he is leading. "We are perfecting the cassava seed systems in Tanzania through a three-step approach: Virus indexing, then rapid multiplication at a research station and finally large-scale multiplication at a clean site in an area with low disease pressure."

Dr Legg said that they have established clean seed sites in Mtwopa (Mtwara), Mwele (Tanga), Hombolo (Dodoma) and Nkenge (Kagera) in Tanzania's cassava-growing heartland. He added that they are routinely monitored and carefully managed and that he was happy to report that there have been very low incidences of CMD and CBSD in these sites.
"Moreover, the sites are now being used by the Tanzania Root and Tuber Research Programme to produce quality planting material of new, popular and disease-resistant varieties such as Mkuranga 1, Chereko, Kipusa and Kizimbani, as well as some of the older favourites, such as Mkombozi, Kiroba and Mumba," added Dr Legg.

The virus cleaning was carried out by the Natural Resources Institute (NRI) and the Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate (KEPHIS).
The material was forwarded to Genetics Technologies International Limited (GTIL), a commercial tissue culture company, for mass multiplication. The plantlets were then certified virus-free by the Mikocheni Agricultural Research Institute (MARI) and IITA.
Another major development of the project is the establishment of rapid multiplication systems for mini-plants derived from virus-indexed tissue culture plantlets.

By using these rapid propagation techniques in screen houses, the team led by Dr Kiddo Mtunda, cassava researcher and Officer-in-Charge of the Sugarcane Research Institute (SRI) in Kibaha, Tanzania and her team have been able to produce thousands of cassava plants in a matter of months. T

he success of this project offers promise not just for cassava producers in the target countries, but more widely to cassava producers throughout Africa.
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11:40:00 AM


Chama cha Madaktari wa Kinywa na Meno Tanzania (TDA),wakati kikiadhimisha Siku ya Afya ya Kinywa na Meno Duniani mwaka huu kilibaini kuwa zaidi ya asilimia 50 ya watoto walio chini ya miaka 14, wanakabiliwa na magonjwa ya kinywa na meno.
Pia kiilibaini kuwa asilimia 80 ya watanzania wanakabiliwa na matatizo ya ugonjwa wa fizi.
Katika kukabiliana na hali hiyo, wadau mbalimbali wameanza kutoa elimu ya afya ya kinywa ikiwa ni pamoja na watengenezaji wa dawa ya meno ya whitedent wa namna ya kujikinga na magonjwa ya kinywa.
Wakazi wa jiji la Dar es Salaam waliozungumza na East Africa Radio wanasema kumekuwa na upuuziaji mkubwa katika usafishaji wa meno, ulimi na kinywa kwa ujumla hali inayochangia watu wengi kung'oa meno yao.
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11:32:00 AM

Mkuu wa Wilaya ya Ilala jijini Dar es salaam Sophia Mjema amesema kuanzia sasa manispaa ya Ilala itamfikisha mahakamani mtu yeyote atakayegundulika anatupa taka barabarani kiholela.
Mkuu wa wilaya ya Ilala jijini Dar es salaam Sophia Mjema amesema kuanzia sasa manispaa ya Ilala itamfikisha mahakamani mtu yoyote atakayegundulika anatupa taka barabarani kiholela huku kukiwa na mapipa maalum ya kutupia taka katika barabara za Samora na Sokoine.


        Mkuu huyo wa wilaya ya Ilala ametoa kauli hiyo leo jijini Dar es Salaam wakati alipoongoza wafanyakazi wa manispaa ya Ilala pamoja na wananchi kuweka mapipa 51 ya kutupia taka za aina zote katika barabara hizo.
Katika hatua nyingine wakazi wa Kawe jijini Dar es Salaam wametakiwa kujenga tabia ya kujitokeza kufanya usafi wa mazingira kila Jumamosi ili kuhakikisha kata ya Kawe inakuwa katika hali safi ya mazingira.
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11:07:00 AM
HOSPITALI ya Taifa Muhimbili (MNH) imesema inatarajia kuanza kutoa huduma ya kupandikiza vifaa vya kuongeza usikivu kwa watoto na figo kwa wenye matatizo hayo kuanzia mwakani.
Hospitali hiyo imesema inatarajia kuanza kuwapeleka wataalamu nje ya nchi kuanzia Septemba, mwaka huu kwa ajili ya kusoma kwa muda wa miezi miwili hadi minne ili Januari huduma hiyo ianze kutolewa.
Kauli hiyo ilitolewa na Kaimu Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa hospitali hiyo, Profesa Lawrence Mseru wakati akiwatunuku vyeti wafanyakazi bora 53, ambapo alisema, kuanzishwa kwa huduma hiyo kutapunguza watoto waliokuwa wakipelekwa nje ya nchi.
“…jambo hili tunatarajia kupunguza na kuondoa kitendo cha kuwasafirisha wagonjwa nje ya nchi kwani tunatarajia kutoa huduma ya kupandikiza vifaa vya kusikia kwa watoto wadogo, pia tutaanza kupandikiza figo,” alisema Profesa Mseru.

Alisema mbali na kutoa huduma hiyo hospitali hiyo inatoa huduma ya kusafisha figo, magonjwa ya tumbo, kufanya upasuaji mbalimbali huku akibainisha hospitali hiyo inahitaji ukarabati kutokana na miundombinu yake kuchakaa.
Profesa Mseru alisema, kutokana na ukubwa wa hospitali hiyo wamekuwa wakipokea idadi kubwa ya wagonjwa, huku miundombinu yake ikiwa na changamoto nyingi hasa katika kipindi cha mvua, upatikanaji wa vifaa vya kufulia nguo za wagonjwa, kuteketeza taka ngumu na vifaa vingine.
“Aidha, tuna upungufu wa rasilimali fedha katika utoaji huduma au kuwapa motisha wafanyakazi wetu,” alisema.
Alisema kila mwezi hospitali hiyo inalazimika kulilipa Shirika la Umeme nchini (Tanesco) Sh milioni 200 hadi 220 huku Shirika la Dawasco wakililipa Sh milioni 100 kwa mwezi.
Akizungumzia ulipaji wa majengo, Prof Mseru alisema Manispaa inawadai Sh milioni 20 kwa mwezi.Katika kipindi cha miezi 6 iliyopita wastani wa pato la hospitali kwa mwezi ilikuwa sh bilioni 2.3 hadi sh bilioni 2.5; huku mahitaji kwa mwezi ya kawaida ikiwa sh bilioni 4.
Mbali na hilo, Prof Mseru alisema wanatarajia kukarabati vyumba vya upasuaji na kuongeza kutoka idadi ya vyumba 13 hadi kufikia vyumba 19 na kuhakikisha vyumba vinakuwa vikubwa, sanjari na kuongeza vitanda katika chumba cha wagonjwa wenye uhitaji wa uangalizi(ICU), kutoka vitanda 21 hadi kufikia vitanda 60.

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1:34:00 PM
Makamo wa Rais, Samia Suluhu Hassan akifungua mkutano wa kisayansi ulioandaliwa na Chuo Kikuu cha Afya na Sayansi Shirikishi Muhimbli (MUHAS) jijini Dar es Salaam..
HISTORIA ya Chuo Kikuu cha Afya na Sayansi Shirikishi Muhimbili (MUHAS) jijini Dar es Salaam imeanza tangu mwaka 1963, chuo kikiwa ndani ya hospitali iliyoitwa Princess Margaret kikiwa na wanafunzi 10 wanaochukua mchepuo wa udaktari au upasuaji pekee.
Kwa muda mrefu, Muhas imekuwa chuo cha elimu ya afya kama sehemu ya Chuo Kikuu cha Dar es Salaam (UDSM). Mwaka 2007 Muhas ilipandishwa hadhi na kuwa chuo kikuu kinachojitegemea chenye idara nne ambazo ni utaalamu wa meno, uganga, uuguzi na dawa.
Kwa sasa, Muhas ina takribani wanafunzi 4,000 wa nchini na kimataifa wanaochukua michepuo mbalimbali ambayo ni madaktari, wauguzi, mafamasia, waganga wa meno, mabwana afya, mabwana mazingira na elimu ya juu ya afya. Chuo hicho kiko kwenye mchakato wa upanuzi kupitia mradi wa ujenzi wa kampasi ya Mlonganzila.
Ikikamilika, inatarajiwa kudahili wanafunzi zaidi ya 15,000 na itaongeza michepuo au kozi. Muhas imekuwa ni hazina kuu kwa serikali kutokana na kuwa chanzo cha kuzalisha wataalamu wa afya na madaktari bingwa.
Vile vile ni miongoni mwa maeneo yanayotoa mchango mkubwa wa utafiti wa masuala yanayogusa eneo la afya. Miongoni mwa utafiti unaogusa sekta ya afya uliofanywa na chuo hicho na kuleta mabadiliko katika jamii, ni uliobaini njia ya kisasa na rahisi ya kupima virusi vya Ukimwi na malaria ambayo mgonjwa huchukua dakika mchache kupata majibu ya vipimo vyake.
“Sisi ndiyo tuliogundua njia mbadala bora na rahisi kwa mgonjwa ya kupima malaria kwa kutumia vifaa vya kisasa ambayo pia sasa inapimia virusi vya Ukimwi na mgonjwa kupatiwa majibu yake kwa muda mfupi kuliko mwanzo,” anasema Makamu Mkuu wa Muhas, Profesa Ephata Kaaya.
Katika mkakati wake wa kuboresha zaidi utafiti nchini, hivi karibuni chuo hicho kilifanya mkutano wa nne wa utafiti wa kisayansi. Kwa mujibu wa Makamu Mkuu wa Muhas, Profesa Kaaya, mikutano ya utafiti inalenga kutafuta ufumbuzi wa changamoto zinazokabili sekta ya afya na hatimaye kupunguza umasikini.
Katika mkutano huo ulioongozwa na kauli mbiu inayohamasisha uwekezaji katika utafiti wa afya na mafunzo kwa maendeleo endelevu, Kaaya anasema Muhas imejipanga kuhakikisha inaboresha zaidi tafiti zake kwa kuongeza maeneo mengi ya kufanyia. Anasema kipaumbele kikubwa ni kwenye utafiti wa magonjwa ya malaria, kifua kikuu, Ukimwi, afya ya mtoto, majeraha na elimu ya afya kwa ujumla.
“Tunatambua umuhimu wa sisi kama watalaamu kuendelea kuimarisha zaidi eneo hili la utafiti. Lengo letu hasa ni kuhakikisha vijana wengi zaidi wanajihusisha na kushiriki katika tafiti zetu mbalimbali ili kujenga taifa lenye vijana wenye ujuzi katika masuala ya utafiti wa kisayansi,” anasisitiza Profesa Kaaya.
Anasema tangu chuo hicho kianzishwe miaka 50 iliyopita, kimefanya utafiti mbalimbali ambao umesaidia kuwezesha wizara kutunga sera zinazoendana na hali halisi. Anatoa mfano wa Sera ya Ukimwi na Malaria kuwa ni matokeo ya tafiti zao.
Aidha, Profesa Kaaya anasema Muhas katika mpango wake wa kuimarisha eneo la utafiti, imekuwa ikitoa mafunzo ya utafiti kwa wataalamu wake. Asilimia 95 ya wataalamu hao inatajwa kuwa wameshanufaika na mafunzo hayo kupitia mfuko wa mafunzo.
“Ukweli ni kwamba Muhas tumejitahidi sana kuimarisha eneo hili la utafiti kupitia mikutano hii ya mafunzo na utafiti na tumejiwekea lengo kuwa kiungo cha kuongeza ujuzi kwa wanafunzi wa ndani na nje,” anasema.
Mkuu huyo wa chuo anaeleza zaidi mpango wa chuo hicho wa kushirikisha vijana zaidi katika masuala ya utafiti. Anasema kwenye mikutano yake, chuo kimekuwa kikishirikisha wanafunzi kuwasilisha mada kuhusu tafiti mbalimbali na kila mwaka, ushiriki wa wanafunzi hao huongezeka.
Mathalani, mkutano wao wa mwaka huu uliokuwa na jumla ya mada 170 za kuwasilishwa, kati ya hizo, mada 70 ambazo ni sawa na asilimia 30 ziliwasilishwa na wanafunzi. Pamoja na mafanikio yote, Profesa Kaaya anasema sekta ya utafiti imekuwa ikikabiliwa na changamoto mbalimbali , kubwa zaidi ikiwa ni uhaba wa fedha.
“Taifa hili bado linakabiliwa na matatizo ya afya na bila sayansi huwezi kuelewa mbinu za kutatua matatizo yanayotukabili, hivyo tutaendelea kufanya utafiti kutatuta changamoto zinazoikabili jamii yetu,” anasema.
Hata hivyo, changamoto ya fedha inaonekana kupatiwa ufumbuzi kutokana na serikali itahakikisha inaongeza bajeti ya sekta ya afya. Makamu wa Rais, Samia Suluhu Hassan ambaye alifungua mkutano wa nne, anasema serikali imejipanga kuongeza bajeti ya sekta ya afya hadi kufikia asilimia 15 kama ambavyo nchi imeridhia katika Azimio la Abuja mwaka 2001.
Hatua hiyo ya kuongeza fedha za bajeti kwa sekta ya afya inatajwa kuwa itawezesha Tanzania pamoja na nchi nyingine zinazoendelea kuboresha eneo la utafiti litakaloweza kuibua masuala nyeti yagusayo jamii moja kwa moja.

Makamu wa Rais anasema kwa kuanzia, katika bajeti ya mwaka 2016/17 serikali imeongeza fedha kwenye sekta ya utafiti. Hata hivyo anasema kiwango hakijafikia asilimia 15 kama ilivyoridhiwa.
“Nichukue fursa hii kuwahakikishia kuwa Serikali ya Tanzania inatambua umuhimu wa sekta ya afya lakini pia inatambua mchango mkubwa wa utafiti unaofanywa na wataalamu wa afya. Nawahakikishia katika bajeti zetu zijazo, serikali itahakikisha asilimia hii 15 inafikiwa,” anasisitiza.
Kulingana na bajeti ya Wizara ya Afya, Maendeleo ya Jamii, Jinsia, Wazee na Watoto iliyowasilishwa bungeni hivi karibuni, Sh bilioni 845 ndizo zilizopitishwa. Kiasi hicho kiko chini ya asilimia 10 ya bajeti nzima ambayo ni Sh trilioni 29. Samia anawataka wataalamu wa masuala ya afya pia kuondokana na utegemezi wa misaada kutoka kwa wafadhili katika utekelezaji wa miradi muhimu ikiwemo utafiti.
Anasisitiza kuwa misaada mingi huwa na muda wa kukatishwa hali ambayo inaweza kusababisha malengo ya mradi husika yasifikiwe. Anashauri uongozi wa chuo kujenga uhusiano wa karibu na viwanda vya ndani na kimataifa kwa ajili ya kuimarisha eneo la utafiti na mafunzo.
Ushauri zaidi unaotolewa ni ushirikishaji wa vijana wengi kwenye eneo la utafiti wa kisayansi kwa maendeleo ya taifa. Waziri wa Afya, Maendeleo ya Jamii, Jinsia, Wazee na Watoto, Ummy Mwalimu anasisitiza juu ya hilo akitaka vijana wengi wengi washirikishwe katika utafiti ili kujenga taifa lenye vijana watafiti na wataalamu wa kutosha.
Ummy ambaye aliwakilishwa na Katibu Mkuu wa wizara yake, John Michael; kufunga mkutano huo wa nne wa utafiti wa kisayansi, anasema utafiti wa kisayansi ni muhimu kwa nchi yoyote. Umuhimu wake unatajwa kuwa ni kuhakikisha nchi inafikia malengo yake ya maendeleo, ikiwemo utekelezaji wa Malengo ya Maendeleo Endelevu ya Umoja wa Mataifa (SDGs).
Waziri Ummy anataja utafiti huo wa kisayansi kuwa ni kiungo muhimu kinachowezesha nchi kufikia malengo hayo ya umoja wa mataifa kwa kuwa ndiyo unaotoa mwongozo wa kisayansi na mipango juu ya namna ya kuyafikia. Anasema ni lazima taifa lianze kuchukua hatua sasa na kuhakikisha mfumo wa kitaifa wa huduma za afya, uchumi unakabili mzigo wa magonjwa kwa njia ya utafiti.


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