DAR ES SALAAM, May 22 (Xinhua) — Tanzanian health authorities said Monday they have set aside 90 hectares of land for the construction of an isolation center for the treatment of epidemics. Godwin Mollel, the deputy minister for Health, told parliament in the capital of Dodoma that the high-tech isolation center will be built in the Kagera region that borders Uganda. 

“We have decided to build the isolation center in Kagera region because of its social interactions with people from the neighboring country,” said Mollel. 

He said the construction of the center will go in tandem with the improvement of the Kagera regional government hospital to offer efficient medical services to people within the area. Mollel revealed the plans to construct the isolation center when he responded to Bernabetha Kasabago Mushashu, a member of Parliament on women special seats, who had asked the government to explain steps it was taking to control outbreaks of epidemics in the northwestern Tanzania border region.

At least six people, including an 18-month-old child, were killed by Marburg viral disease since the outbreak of the disease was reported in the Kagera region on March 21, 2023. The Minister of Health Ummy Mwalimu, however, had declared that the disease was now under control. 

Early this month, Mwalimu said the government has set aside 20.75 billion Tanzanian shillings (about 8.8 million U.S. dollars) in the 2023/2024 financial year for controlling outbreaks of epidemics and highly infectious diseases. She told parliament that the money will also be used for the construction of highly infectious disease treatment units in the Dar es Salaam and Kagera regions.