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The Background
Ru MacDonagh and John McGrath are both consultant surgeons in the UK and have worked for many years in Zanzibar and Tanzania. They have established strong links with the Health Sector and the government over this time, in particular with The Principal Secretary to the Minister of Health in Zanzibar - Dr Mohamed Jiddawi. Dr Jiddawi has worked tirelessly throughout his career to advance healthcare on the island and has earned the highest respect from government, aid organisations and the islanders. The island has one main hospital (Mnazi Mmoja), which acts as a referral centre for a population in excess of 1 million people. There are two smaller district hospitals – one in the north (Kivunge) and another in the south (Makunduchi - our hospital).
HIPZ was registered as a charity in 2006 with the primary aim of establishing a unique public/private partnership with the Zanzibar Government to improve healthcare in Zanzibar, through fundraising and professional support in the UK. The flagship project is to renovate, equip and run the hospital in Makunduchi in southern Zanzibar, where many of the 60,000 or so locals have little or no access to healthcare. This initiative is now called the Makunduchi Project. The key premise of the Makundunchi Project is based on the principle that delivering high quality local care in district hospitals is vital to ensure that more appropriate cases are dealt with in the Mnazi Mmoja referral hospital whilst providing reliable core services within the district setting.
Makunduchi Hospital is one of only 2 District Hospitals on the main island of Zanzibar and serves the whole population of the South District. Construction of a new link road has recently been completed and will further increase the catchment area for the hospital by approximately 20,000 people.
Currently the medical services provided are largely primary care, basic maternity services and some minor surgery, with the occupancy of its 30 beds for in-patients, being very low at around 13%. The low occupancy rate reflects a gradual erosion of trust in the hospital facility.
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