MCW and MUHAS Celebrate Completion of Information Technology Installation
DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA, Wednesday, May 7, 2014 – MCW and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) representatives today celebrated the completion of the installation phase of a year-long information technology project at the MUHAS School of Dentistry in Dar es Salaam. The installation was led by team members from Henry Schein, Inc., the principle donor of the computers, practice management software, Dentrix® Enterprise, and digital X-ray equipment.
Officiated by Dr. Elison Simon, Dean of MUHAS School of Dentistry, the ceremony was attended by the leading oral health care project stakeholders, including representatives from MUHAS, MCW and Henry Schein, Inc.
Professor Eligius Lyamuya, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, delivered remarks on behalf of MUHAS Vice Chancellor. “I am sure you will all agree with me that Miracle Corners of the World has done miracles for the School of Dentistry,” he said.
Jules Paoletti, Henry Schein Eastern US Special Markets Manager said: “We [Henry Schein team members and vendor partners] are very happy to be part of the partnership with Muhimbili University and their in-house IT and mechanical staff, and to be able to bring the latest technology to a location working hard to improve the lives of their patients.”
“It is important for us to use IT to help the patients together with the doctors to provide better care. Patient information, history and X-rays will be easily retrieved. X-ray films will no longer need to be retaken as they won’t get lost,” said Asanali Msangi, MUHAS ICT Senior Network Administrator. “This project is important because it helped us to improve the clinical infrastructure. Doctors will not have to depend on others; they are able to be efficient and go into the system themselves.”
Dr. Simon Tumaini, MUHAS Acting Dental Manager, also spoke about the benefits of the newly installed software. “We had many things we were trying to put in order, but due to infrastructure and facilities which we had, we could not,” he said. “With this system, we will be able to solve those problems. We will be able to identify the patients correctly and have their information in one place, we can easily see how much we have gained and so that we can improve the collection of revenue in our school.”
Dr. Tumaini continued, “It will help us to improve day-to-day operations as well as in research; we will be able to see where we were, where we are, and where we are going. Planning will be easily done because we will have data at our hands.”
The donation of equipment, installation and training represents the third phase of a capacity building project that began in 2008, when MCW and the MUHAS School of Dentistry signed their first memorandum of understanding dedicated to upgrading the school’s dental clinics.
About MCW (Miracle Corners of the World)
MCW is a non-profit organization founded in 1999 with the vision of “Local Change through Global Exchange®.” Our mission is to empower youth to become positive agents of change in their communities. Based in New York with four affiliates in Africa, MCW offers the following programs: Leadership Training, Community Development and Oral Health Care, as well as Partner Initiatives. www.mcwglobal.org
