PRNewswire - November 3, 2009

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time, emergency room services meeting international standards will be a part Tanzania's public health system, thanks to the opening of a new Emergency Medical Department building and extensive training being conducted at Muhimbili National Hospital. At a ceremony yesterday, President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of the United Republic of Tanzania joined representatives from the Abbott Fund in dedicating the new facility. The building renovations, new equipment and staff training are being supported by a grant from the Abbott Fund, the philanthropic foundation of the global health care company Abbott. The initiative is part of a broader partnership between the Government of Tanzania and the Abbott Fund to strengthen the country's health care system.

"The opening of this emergency center will help to save lives in Dar es Salaam and across the region, and will lead to fundamental differences in emergency care training in the future," said President Kikwete. "We are grateful for this latest step in our long and very successful partnership with the Abbott Fund."

Emergency medicine is not a specialty that is typically offered as part of medical training in most parts of Africa. As a result, patients admitted to public hospitals for acute conditions generally receive limited care until a specialist is available to provide treatment. With the opening of the new Emergency Medical Department, state-of-the-art urgent care will be available to patients. A comprehensive training program will upgrade emergency care expertise for staff at Muhimbili, with the long-term goal of training future physicians in the specialty of Emergency Medicine.

"The new Emergency Medical Department provides resources and procedures that significantly improve urgent medical care at our hospital," said Professor Leonard Lema, executive director, Muhimbili National Hospital. "Our broader goal is to utilize this department as a training ground and create a residency program in emergency medicine at Muhimbili. This will help elevate the level of emergency care expertise in other hospitals in Tanzania."

The $3 million project is an extension of the Abbott Fund's partnership with the Government of Tanzania to improve health care infrastructure and systems in Tanzania. The Abbott Fund has invested more than $60 million to date in one of the largest public-private partnerships in Africa aimed at enhancing access to health care on a national scale. Today, one in three people with HIV taking antiretroviral therapy receive services at a facility that has benefited from Abbott Fund support.

"Throughout our partnership in Tanzania, we have worked with the government to identify critical needs in the health care system and develop solutions that will have the greatest impact in improving people's lives," said Catherine Babington, president, the Abbott Fund. "Through this new facility and a strong focus on staff training, our goal is to significantly improve emergency medical care in Tanzania."

To quickly strengthen local expertise, emergency room physicians and nurses from academic centers in the U.S. are working side by side with staff at Muhimbili and mentoring them in standard emergency room procedures and equipment use. Training focuses on basic life support, adult cardiac life support, pediatric life support and advanced trauma life support. The staff also is learning how to use new diagnostic equipment, including point-of-care testing that can provide rapid insights into underlying disease and the overall health status of patients. In addition, MRI and CT scanning equipment also will be available. To date, more than 500 health workers have received training in emergency care at Muhimbili. Dr. Alwyn Mziray, a native Tanzanian trained in emergency medicine in the U.S., has returned to Tanzania to lead the project and co-manage the new center.

About the Abbott Fund in Tanzania

The modernization of the Emergency Medical Department at Muhimbili is the latest effort in an ongoing partnership between the Abbott Fund and the Government of Tanzania to strengthen the country's health care system. In 2007, the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC) honored the Abbott Fund with an Award for Business Excellence for National Action for its public-private partnership with the Government of Tanzania. Key results to date include:

-- Improving laboratory services on a national scale by modernizing all 23 regional-level hospital laboratories in Tanzania. Nearly half of the labs have already been built or renovated, with the full program anticipated to be completed by the end of 2010.

-- At Muhimbili National Hospital, the Abbott Fund built a new outpatient center that serves about a thousand patients each day and integrates HIV care with other services, and renovated, automated and computerized the central pathology laboratory.

-- Conducted more than 15,000 health care worker trainings.

-- Provided HIV counseling and testing for more than 300,000 people, and donated 1 million rapid HIV tests to the Tanzanian national HIV testing initiative.

-- Helped more than 150,000 children and families by providing access to health services, education and training, and pioneering legal protection for orphans and widows affected by HIV/AIDS.

About Abbott and the Abbott Fund

The Abbott Fund is a philanthropic foundation established by Abbott in 1951. The Abbott Fund's mission is to create healthier global communities by investing in creative ideas that promote science, expand access to health care and strengthen communities worldwide. For more information, visit www.abbottfund.org.

Abbott (NYSE:ABT) is a global, broad-based health care company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals and medical products, including nutritionals, devices and diagnostics. The company employs more than 72,000 people and markets its products in more than 130 countries. Abbott's news releases and other information are available on the company's Web site at www.abbott.com.

Source: Abbott

CONTACT: International Media, Matt Bedella, +1-847-936-3394, or East Africa Media, Prateek Patnaik, +255-688-493-750, both of Abbott

Web Site: http://www.abbott.com/

http://www.abbottfund.org/

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