Dar es Salaam, Tanzania – September 15th, 2023 – Amref Health Africa in Tanzania has launched its country strategic plan for 2023-2030.
Graced by the Honourable Prime Minister, Kassim Majaliwa Majaliwa, the launch sets out Amref Health Africa Tanzania’s vision of championing and supporting quality and accessible healthcare for the Tanzanian population through its mission of catalysing and driving community-led and people-centred essential health services while addressing social determinants of health.
Amref Tanzania has been a key player in supporting public health initiatives in Tanzania for over 36 years. Through fruitful and successful collaboration with key stakeholders such as the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the President’s Office of Regional Administration and Local Government (PORALG), we have made significant contributions to the well-being of the Tanzanian population.
The Hon. Prime Minister, Kassim Majaliwa Majaliwa applauded Amref Health Africa Tanzania for supporting the government’s efforts to ensure that all Tanzanians have quality health. “I am happy that the new strategic plan of Amref Tanzania is centred around enhancing primary healthcare and addressing social determinants of health. This demonstrates a commitment to improving the well-being of our communities. In order to improve maternal health, it is necessary to focus on improving access to sexual and reproductive health rights and maternal health services, especially for young women, to help reduce the rate of teenage pregnancies and ensure the safety of both mothers and children. Empowering young people to contribute to the nation’s economic development is also crucial,” said the Prime Minister.
In his remarks, The Vice Chancellor of Amref International University, Professor Joachim Osur, on behalf of Amref Health Africa Group Chief Executive Officer, Dr Githinji Gitahi, said, ” “We have reached about 60 million people in the last five years, out of which 26 million are from Amref Tanzania. We want to thank the government of Tanzania for the support given to Amref Tanzania.
We extend our gratitude to our implementors, donors, and the community we work with. Your support is invaluable, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration,” he said
Addressing the participants, Amref Health Africa Tanzania’s Country Director, Dr. Florence Temu, noted the strategic plan would give direction to Amref Tanzania in underlying its core duties of investing in community-led and people-centred health systems for sustainable primary healthcare. “In our strategic plan, spanning eight years (2023-2030), we are committed to ensuring that a wide range of public communities have access to and benefit from primary healthcare services. Our focus includes investing in Universal Health Coverage and addressing social determinants of health, which have contributed to the rapid spread of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and other illnesses — including climate-linked diseases,” she said.
“Additionally, we aim to strengthen the resilience of our communities and health systems to effectively respond to the health impacts of climate change. By learning from the COVID-19 outbreak, we seek to enhance the capacity of the health sector to tackle epidemics. Furthermore, we will empower women and youth through knowledge and interventions aimed at improving overall quality of life, recognizing the crucial link between quality of life and health outcomes,” she added.
From his part, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Amref Health Africa Tanzania, Anthony Chamungwana, reiterated Amref’s commitment in complementing the government’s efforts in promoting healthcare in the country. “We will continue to work in collaboration with the government and other stakeholders to ensure that communities are reached with the best and affordable health services. We will continue to invest in user-friendly services based on the country’s guidelines, ensuring high-quality implementation from the community to the national level,” he said.
The 2023-2030 strategy builds on Amref Tanzania’s learnings from the implementation of the previous strategies as well as the current global and national priorities and trends. Increasing access to and utilization of services, supporting human resources for health, and advocating for investments in health remain among the priority areas for the current Strategy. Additionally, it puts more emphasis on strengthening community health systems for improved access, utilization, and management of services at the community level. Further, it aims at addressing social determinants of health, including enhancing climate resilience and readiness for emerging threats.
Amref Tanzania will continue working closely with other key ministries, government agencies, donors, community-based organizations (CBOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the private sector, and the communities they serve. Through the realization of this strategy, Amref Health Africa Tanzania envisions contributing to equitable and sustainable access to quality primary healthcare (PHC) and ultimately contributing to the achievement of universal healthcare (UHC) in Tanzania.
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About Amref Health Africa Tanzania
With the focus on reaching and working with the most vulnerable African communities to achieve lasting health change, Amref Health Africa has been active in Tanzania since 1957 and in 1987, the country office was established in Dar es Salaam.
Amref Health Africa in Tanzania’s projects respond to national health priorities and sustainable development goals (SDGs) in addressing the needs of needy communities, mostly women and children. We work to increase health services’ effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability by strengthening health systems, improving access to services, advocating stronger community health systems, and influencing health policies. Amref Health Africa in Tanzania strongly supports the Universal Health Coverage Agenda. Learn more about Amref Health Africa through www.amref.org
Press Contacts
Eliminatha Paschal; Head of Communication & Partnerships
Amref Health Africa in Tanzania Email: [email protected]