Tanzania

	Country Snap Shot & Eyecare Profile
	Country Tanzania Region Africa Capital Dar es Salaam Area (sq/km) 945,087 Geography Provinces / Districts *Population 37,455,392 *Population Below Poverty Line 36% *Infant Mortality/1000 births 96.48 *GDP Per Capita ($US) $700 Schools of Optometry 1 Optometrists 0 Opticians 0 Ophthalmologists 0 Eye Health Workers   Optometrist Association Yes Vision 2020 Signatory    Vision 2020 National Plan   National Eyecare Health Plan

Burundian trainees developing eye care skills

Eyecare in Tanzania I had the opportunity to volunteer for ICEE in Tanzania, East Africa from August 2001 – August 2002. Tanzania is engaging, with an intriguingly complex mix of cultures, religions, languages, environments, economic opportunities and post-colonial challenges. Although Tanzania is a not a wealthy country, the political climate is stable. Health problems prevail - life expectancy for females is 47.2 years and men 45.8 years; literacy rates are 84% for men and 66% for women; and the health system is strained by a variety of diseases, including HIV (with infection rates of up to 30%), Tuberculosis, and other infectious diseases. The Tanzanian Vision 2020 Committee had recognized that provision of refractive care and identification of treatable and preventable eye disease is a major problem in their healthcare system. So my work centered on facilitating local people to reorganize and invigorate primary eye care education and service delivery for the region. I worked with Kilimanjaro Christian Medical College (KCMC) Hospital to design educational material and implement a permanent course that trains optometrists to provide refractive care and identify eye diseases in rural Tanzania.

KCMC is the only School of Optometry in East Africa and has been supported with ICEE funds. The school produces 10 optometrists each year and to date 200 students have completed the optometry course. By way of comparison Australia has three Schools of Optometry and about 140 graduates each year.

	In the field
	Tim Fricke, ICEE volunteer, with optometry graduates, KCMC, Tanzania I met Dr Mizambo, a physician, in a Burundian refugee camp. Mizambo is a small, neat, quiet person with a desire to help people. He escaped safely to Tanzania during the inter-tribal genocide of tens of thousands of Burundians that started in 1994. He even escaped with all his limbs – many surviving Burundian males lost limbs in machete attacks. Mizambo and hundreds of thousands of other survivors have been in squalid refugee camps for up to eight years, waiting for the opportunity to return to their homeland. Mizambo works in a camp hospital, saving lives and doing what he can to heal the effects of the war. He realized that the refugees needed better quality eye care, so he jumped at the opportunity to be involved in an ICEE/International Rescue Committee (IRC) funded eye care training program. I was impressed by his swift comprehension of technical information in English, his fourth language after KiRundian, French and Swahili. Mizambo is now providing good quality eye care in the refugee camps, and hopes someday to have the opportunity to take this knowledge back to his own country. Tim Fricke, ICEE volunteer Senior Community Optometrist