The Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Hon Samia Suluhu Hassan, has directed all councils in the country to provide housing for health workers, especially in rural areas, giving priority  to midwives who often provide emergency care to pregnant women and children.

Vice President Hon Samia Hassan Suluhu issued the directive in Dodoma at the celebrations of the International Day of the Midwife.

The Vice President said that if councils build accomodation for healthcare workers near to their stations it will help increase access to emergency services by mothers and children . Currently healthcare workers, especially midwives are not onsite rendering emergency services inadequate.

The Vice President  urged the heads of provinces and districts to oversee the building of these facilities to ensure that the country reaches its goal of reducing the number of maternal deaths in the country by 2030.

Addressing the challenges facing the health sector in the country, the Vice President assured health sector wokers in the country that the government continues to work on these challenges, including the ensuring the availability of medical commodities to ensure everyone across the country has access to quality healthcare.

The availability of drugs at healthcare facilities in the countryreached 83 per cent by the end of March 2017. The Vice President also encouraged modwoves to work hard and to uphold their values.

The Minister of Health, Social Development, Gender, Elderly and Children, Ummy Mwalimu,  assured the Vice President that his Ministry will continue to effectively manage the delivery of public health as well as manage the ethics of ministers of health across the country. She said there had been a strong commitment by the government  to ensure that citizens have access to healthcare demonstrated by the one trillion budget allocated for the fiscal year 2017/2018, an increase from the previous year.

Maternal and infant mortality

According to Dr. Hashina Begum, Deputy Representative, UNFPA Tanzania: "In Tanzania, more than 8,500 women die every year due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth. Nearly 40,000 babies die during the first 28 days of their life. Almost 100,000 children die before reaching their fifth birthday. Nearly 50,000 babies are stillborn, almost half of them dying during delivery. Most of these lives could be saved if  trained midwives were available before, during and after child birth.”

Strengthening the capacity of midwives

UNFPA focuses on providing support in four key areas; providing a competency-based curriculum for all midwives; developing strong regulatory mechanisms to ensure the delivery of quality services; establishing and strengthening midwifery associations; and advocating for increased investments in midwifery services.

UNFPA will continue to support building the capacity of midwives to ensure the sexual and reproductive health and rights of all women in Tanzania. UNFPA provides financial assistance to more than 250 midwifery schools for the procurement of books, training equipment, and the renovation of training faculties.  In Tanzania, UNFPA and the UN support the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children; midwifery training institutions; professional associations such as the Tanzania Midwives Association (TAMA) and other partners to ensure the availability of an adequate number of qualified and competent midwives with the knowledge and skills to provide maternal, newborn and child healthcare services in Tanzania.

Providing comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care services

There is now an increased capacity to provide comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care (CEmONC) services.  Fourteen high-burden health centers in rural areas on the Tanzania mainland and in Zanzibar have been renovated and equipped to provide CEmONC.  Eighty healthcare workers, including midwives, have received training to perform caesarian sections, anesthesia and other emergency services. UNFPA has also enhanced the skills of over 4,000 healthcare workers, primarily midwives, in various components of life-saving skills for women and newborn babies through continued mentorship, short-term trainings and the use of innovative technologies. The procurement of reproductive health commodities has strengthened family planning services at the district level. The UN procured 67 ambulances and eight coordination vehicles to strengthen the referral system at the district level. The ambulances and coordination vehicles were handed over to the Ministry of Health and deployed to various districts mainly in the Lake and Western Zone Regions.

Dr. Hashina urged that: “To prevent maternal and newborn deaths and disabilities and empower women to make informed, healthy choices and exercise their rights is key to achieving the sustainable development goals by 2030. To make this a reality, we need to expand midwifery programmes, maintain the highest global standards, and promote an enabling environment for midwives to effectively serve the needs of women and their families.”