Our Work in Tanzania

According to the 2007 Household Budget Survey (HBS), 12.9 million Tanzanians live below the poverty line as compared to 11.4 million in 2000 - 2001. The direct and indirect costs of disease and ill health have been shown to be significant.

AMREF in Tanzania is progressively working within the Tanzanian government’s policy framework and in particular the Tanzanian Development Vision 2025 that aims to eradicate poverty and improve quality of life through the National Strategy for Growth and Poverty Reduction locally known as MKUKUTA¹ .

AMREF works all over the country, empowering communities and supporting the government at all levels to identify and address community health needs. We have tested half a million people for HIV in a programme that has been adopted and scaled up by the government.

Major Health Challenges

Maternal mortality has increased creating a major concern for the national health system. 53% of pregnancies are delivered at home, and very few of these deliver with the help of skilled personnel.

Tanzania has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy rates in the world. Pregnancy in very young girls is always associated with high risk for mother and child. Early entry into reproductive health increases the risk of health threats such as anaemia, malnutrition and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV and the risk of obstructed labour and vesicovaginal fistula (VVF).

HIV/AIDS is one of the leading causes of lost productivity in Tanzania with a highly negative impact on household savings and assets, further worsening the existing conditions of poverty in the most vulnerable communities.

Inadequate access to safe water, poor sanitation and hygiene practices continue to be a major public health challenge, especially in rural areas and informal urban settlements.

AMREF is:

Encouraging people to get themselves tested for HIV through the Angaza Zaidi project and reducing the stigma attached to the disease
Improving health and quality of life by providing water and sanitation facilities, educating communities and promoting good water and sanitation practices at all levels in Serengeti district through the Maji ni Uhai project.
Funding HIV organisations throughout the country as the major recipient of the Global Fund for HIV, TB and malaria.
Reducing the impact of HIV and AIDS among women in Serengeti district
AddressIing fistula in the context of maternal mortality and morbidity through the National Fistula Program .
Training community health workers to help prevent malaria in Mtwara
Improving water, sanitation and reproductive health services and reducing childhood illnesses in Mkuranga district.
Establishing a framework for improvement of HIV/AIDS response among mobile populations within Lake Victoria Basin through the EAC/AMREF Lake Victoria Partnership
Realising the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS through the Haki za Wananchi project
Putting African Mothers and Children First in Kenya,Tanzania and Southern Sudan

¹Swahili translation of the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty - Mkakati wa Kukuza Uchumi na Kupunguza Umaskini Tanzania (MKUKUTA)

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History of AMREF in Tanzania

AMREF has worked in Tanzania since 1957 when the Flying Doctors provided specialist medical services in remote hospitals. In 1987, we opened a country office in Dar Es Salaam and AMREF now currently works in all areas of the country.

Our involvement has evolved from providing services in Tanzania to empowering communities and supporting governments. The latter has included setting up a department of community health at the University of Dar Es Salaam and a malaria unit and environmental health programme, as well as developing a national laboratory services policy.

Tanzania- Key health statistics

Over 2.2 million people live with HIV/AIDS in Tanzania
Tanzania has a Maternal Mortlaity Rate (MMR) of 578 per 100,000 live births with only 46% of the women receiving skilled attendance during childbirth.
90% of all child deaths occur because of preventable illnesses such as malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, malnutrition, HIV/AIDS and low birth weight
Malaria accounts for 30-40% of all hospital outpatient attendance
Tanzania has one of the highest adolescent pregnancy rates in the world. 29% of rural girls age 15-19 have given birth or have been pregnant
Only 55% of people in rural areas have access to safe water

Health Centre Pioneers

The United Republic of Tanzania was the first African country to pioneer the health centre as a local point of delivering primary health care back in the 1970s.

However, the health centre and lower health facilities remain largely mismanaged, under-resourced and still focused on basic curative rather than preventive and health promotion as initially envisaged.