Dar es Salaam — The government said Tuesday it would soon import a consignment of tetanus toxoid vaccine to address a countrywide shortage. Reports of the critical shortage of the vaccine have in the recent past raised concern at health centres across the country’s 30 regions.
In Kigoma Regional Medical Officer Paul Chaote, told The Citizen this week the current stock would last only two months. “Normally, there should be enough vaccines for at least three months, but what we currently have in stock will last only two months,” he said. Tetanus is a life-threatening bacterial disease whereby the germs enter the body through open wounds. In an interview with The Citizen, a Dar es Salaam-based motorcyclist, Mr Martin Owen, said he recently failed to get the vaccine at Amana Hospital where doctors recommended it following a road accident. He said: “I was told the vaccine was out of stock. I received other services except the vaccine. I was referred to Muhimbili National Hospital but it was same story.”
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