Key Projects of United Republic of Tanzania

Wazazi Nipendeni Safe Motherhood Campaign

Officially launched in November 2012, the Wazazi Nipendeni (‘Love me, parents’) is part of the Campaign on Accelerated Reduction of Maternal Mortality in Africa (CARMMA), which seeks to improve maternal, newborn and child health. The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare – alongside the National Malaria Control Program, the National AIDS Control Program and the mHealth Tanzania Public Private Partnership – lead Wazazi Nipendeni. The campaign is funded by the US Government through USAID and by other international aid and charity donations, primarily from the USA. The campaign was developed by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communication Programs and the short message service component by the mHealth Tanzania PPP. The campaign integrates areas such as antenatal care; malaria prevention; prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child; individual birth planning; and safe delivery. Information is delivered to parents using TV and radio, posters and billboards. Families can also opt in to receive information on safe motherhood by texting the word ‘mtoto’ (child) free of charge to 15001.

PPP for health care

In 2001, the Abbott Fund formed a public–private partnerships with the Government of Tanzania in an effort to strengthen the nation’s health care system. The partnership has spanned more than ten years, with Abbott investing upwards of US$100 million in the initiative and making corporate donations totalling more than $5 million. In 2011 Abbott completed a $10 million laboratory modernisation project across 23 regional hospitals, building new facilities and training workers in the operation of new equipment. The fund has also provided training for more than 20,000 health care workers in areas such as counselling, ICT, management and HIV treatment. An assessment carried out by the Tanzanian Government in 2007 showed that access to HIV testing, treatment and care has increased significantly as a result of Abbott’s work, with almost one out of every three patients undergoing treatment at a site that has benefitted from Abbott support.

Accredited drug dispensing outlets

Launched in 2003 and headed by the Tanzania Food and Drugs Authority, Tanzania’s Accredited Drug Dispensing Outlet (ADDO) programme is a donor-supported initiative aimed at training and licensing small, privately operated retail outlets in poor and rural areas to sell specified essential medicines and prescription drugs. Key components of the programme include: broad-based stakeholder support; provider accreditation; provider training and consumer awareness; and monitoring and evaluation. The Ministry of Health adopted the ADDO model throughout the country after 2005. The programme is funded by USAID and the Government of Tanzania in different regions, with additional support provided by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).

Public-Private Partnerships

Tanzania is currently in the process of implementing parastatal sector reform. This new policy direction will make it easier for the private sector to participate in the public sector. The National Public Private Partnership Policy 2009 supports private sector participation in the public sector, recognising that public–private partnerships can enable the government to ensure the efficiency, effectiveness, accountability, quality and outreach of services.

The majority of public–private partnerships implemented in Tanzania are concession arrangements for operating existing enterprises ‘with limited provisions for rehabilitation and new investments’, the policy states. Public–private partnerships have been successfully implemented by faith-based organisations in the areas of education, health and water services. However, in other sectors there is a lack of clear guidelines on public–private partnerships.