AfricaPress-Tanzania: TANZANIA’S health system has made major strides over the last decade, with the country making tangible progress towards achieving the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.
Since independence, the government has made significant strides to enhance healthcare delivery to its population, now estimated to reach 59,734,218 million people.
Admirably, the fifth-phase regime has kept the appetite to undertake ambitious new approaches to addressing challenges facing the sector.
Some of the measures taken include improving health budget, increasing access to health care services by constructing more health facilities and recruitment of health personnel across the country.
The government has also been working diligently to ensure sustainable provision of quality medical products and services in public health facilities at all levels: national, regional and district dispensaries.
The government has on the other hand been taking robust steps to guarantee availability of essential medicines and specialized services, which has helped reduce patients’ referral abroad.
More efforts have been placed on fighting non-communicable diseases and maternal and child mortality.
For instance, during the next financial year the government has allocated about 933.2bn/- to improve health services in the country by ensuring there is enough medical equipment and drugs specialists in the country.
In controlling maternal and newborn deaths, the government has allocated 3.5bn/-, which would also involve the construction of six health centres for collecting safe blood in 12 regions that have higher demand in the blood bank.
According to the health budget estimates for the coming financial year, the government has allocated 246bn/- for procurement and distribution of drugs and other medical equipment, out of which 46bn/- will be specifically spent on strategic projects which include HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis.
The government’s underlying goal has been transforming the health sector with a view to ensuring that all citizens can sustainably access quality medical products and services.
The efforts made by the government of President John Magufuli, his predecessors, in collaboration with other health stakeholders, including development partners deserve public recognition and acknowledgement.
