The United Nations Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency UNFPA has entrusted the Government of Tanzania with the support of contraceptives.
The mission of UNFPA, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency begins: “To deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted.” This is the purpose of our gathering today: recognizing our shared goal to ensure that all women, men, adolescents and young people in Tanzania have access to family planning commodities, leaving no one behind.
The reproductive health supplies handed over by UNFPA to the Government of Tanzania are life-saving maternal health commodities, including modern contraceptives. These commodities are tools for individuals to have decision-making power over their own reproductive health, including if and when they choose to have children. These supplies provide means of personal empowerment, especially for women and girls.
Our joint goal is the distribution of these contraceptives and maternal health supplies to thousands of health facilities, hospitals, clinics and community based services, then to be distributed to provide family planning rights and choices for all women and men throughout the country.
Speaking at a short event held at the Medical Store Department (MSD), the representative of UNFPA in Tanzania, Mr. Mark Bryan Schreiner has said that the support is part of UNFPA's efforts to help the Government to improve family planning services for citizens. He added that Tanzania has been a great partner of UNFPA to implement the improvement of family planning services.
“We congratulate the Government of Tanzania on the FP2030 commitment to advance rights-based family planning, and the planned 10% annual increase in the current 14 billion Tanzanian Shillings allocation to be fully disbursed for the procurement of contraceptives. Through the UNFPA Supplies Partnership, we look forward to further engagement with the Government of Tanzania this year to establish a country compact and solidify our shared commitment of future funding for reproductive health supplies. This is an important step for family planning sustainability in Tanzania”. Mark Bryan Schreiner, UNFPA Representative, United Republic of Tanzania.
The Ministry of Health Dr. Felix Bundala has thanked UNFPA for the good relationship that exists between him and Tanzania, especially in helping Tanzania in various aspects of improving health services.
The Director General of MSD Mavere Tukai said that MSD has received the medicines and MSD's role is to ensure that they reach the health care centers in the country, For the aim of improving health services especially for mothers and children.
From 2015 to 2021 UNFPA and FCDO procured 53% of the reproductive health commodities in Tanzania. The total value of these commodities is 54.2 million USD, of which more than 24.8 million was from the FCDO and 29.4 million from UNFPA Supplies. These commodities provided sufficient modern contraceptives to cover the needs of 21 million couples for one year. We estimate that these commodities avoided 9 million unintended pregnancies, prevented nearly one million maternal deaths, averted 2 million unsafe abortions, and saved 756 million US dollars in direct healthcare.
These achievements are only possible through our deep and long lasting cooperation with the Government of Tanzania. UNFPA reaffirms its continued commitment and support to the Government of Tanzania through the Ministry of Health in strengthening the health system to respond to sexual and reproductive health needs, especially of women and girls. These efforts include strengthening the procurement supply chain system, and building the capacity of service providers to increase access to reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health.
UNFPA supports the Government of Tanzania to deliver on the commitment of the Nairobi Summit in 2019 to support access to sexual, reproductive, maternal, new-born and adolescent health. We aim to ensure that no one is left behind, including people with disabilities, refugees and the most vulnerable.
UNFPA’s Transformative Results includes achieving “Zero unmet need for family planning” and “Zero preventable maternal deaths”. This aim to fulfill family planning and maternal health needs will only be achieved through collaborative efforts. In the midst of Tanzania’s dynamic population growth, expanding sexual and reproductive health services for the country’s youthful population, while ensuring rights and choices for all, is of paramount importance.
