FAME

The acronym stands for the Foundation for African Medicine and Education.

Its purpose is to provide medical care in Karatu, a rural area in the North of Tanzania, East Africa.

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FAME was founded in 2004 by Dr Frank Artess and his wife Susan Gustafson as a mobile clinic for an area where, for many people, health care was difficult if not almost impossible to come by.  Over the years, its work has steadily progressed.  Today, the medical centre includes a mobile unit, an outpatient clinic with an emergency department and a small hospital with several speciality departments plus a maternity unit with two labour wards. There is also a small intensive care unit and two operating theatres with recovery rooms.  The centre has its own laboratory and pharmacy.

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From the very beginning it was important to the founders that the name FAME stood for patient orientated and high-quality medical provision, even though conditions in a relatively poor country like Tanzania were often more difficult than in countries with better developed health services.  Over the years, the centre has earned itself an excellent reputation locally as a fantastic facility for medical emergencies and is known and appreciated for its first-class midwifery services.

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FAME also trains its own medical and admin staff and is highly regarded as a good and fair employer.

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The work of FAME is primarily funded by an American charity which has been acknowledged for its transparency and effectiveness. As such, FAME’s work is mainly financed by donations – the centre is a registered NGO.  Its work is also supported by medical staff from the Global North who provide specialist training to Tanzanian staff.

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More information about FAME, its history and its work can be found HERE.