TANZANIA— The University of Dat es Salaam (UDSM) in partnership with several Norwegian agencies led by Norway’s Centre for Medical Ethics, have launched a new project to build capacity of healthcare professionals in Tanzania in medical ethics.
The project will be undertaking capacity-building training of various healthcare professionals in the country aimed at addressing ethical dilemmas in clinical practices.
The project named, Enhancing Ethics and Integrity in Medical Research and Clinical Practice (ETHIMED) will run from 2022 – 2026, funded by NORPART (Norwegian Partnership Programme for Global Academic Cooperation).
The project is being implemented by UDSM through the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, University of Oslo (UiO), Norway through the Centre for Medical Ethics and the University of Rwanda to address the emerging challenges in the areas.
Under the project, ETHIMED was creating a train-the-trainer program on clinical ethics, training health practitioners and faculty members in Rwanda and Tanzania in a moral deliberation model.
Furthermore, establishing a clinical ethics committee and developing a manual for clinical ethics committees in the country.
UDSM’s Head of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Dr. Michael Yakira expressed the need to incorporate clinical ethics courses into the educational curriculum in health and allied science programmes.
Dr. Lyakurwa said that UDSM’s Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies in collaboration with clinical ethics experts from the University of Oslo had organized a clinical ethics training program for healthcare professionals in the country.
“The course is essential for the Sub-Saharan context due to increased moral cases in clinical practice. Yet, there are no established clinical ethics support services to assist healthcare professionals in addressing them,” Dr. Lyakurwa said.
On her part, Dr Françoise Mukanyangezi, Head of Pharmacy Department at the University of Rwanda expressed the need to develop clinical ethics guidelines for healthcare professionals.
“We have been trained on moral case deliberation Centre for Medical Ethics deliberation model if these models are well integrated into our healthcare settings, they might help handle ethical dilemmas in the clinical practice,” Dr. Mukanyangezi insisted.
Mr. Lucas Kitula from the UDSM believed the clinical ethics guidelines would assist healthcare professionals in handling practical issues.
“Such cases as intercultural issues in healthcare settings, religious issues conflicting with biomedical interventions, and allocation of medical resources in the healthcare setting encountering medical resource constraints need such guidelines,” said Mr Kitula.
Participants acknowledged the significance and relevance of the training to healthcare settings challenged by numerous ethical dilemmas that bring about complexities in medical decision-making.
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