Healthcare in Tanzania

Tanzania has a hierarchical health system which is in tandem with the political-administrative hierarchy.^[1] At the bottom, there are the dispensaries found in every village where the village leaders have a direct influence on its running. The health centers are found at ward level and the health center in charge is answerable to the ward leaders. At the district, there is a district hospital and at the regional level a regional referral hospital. The tertiary level is usually the zone hospitals and at a national level, there is the national hospital. There are also some specialized hospitals that do not fit directly into this hierarchy and therefore are directly linked to the ministry of health.

The government has several key plans and policies guiding healthcare provision and development. The Health Sector Strategic Plan III (2009–15) is guided by the Vision 2015^[2] and guides planning for health facilities.^[3] The Big Results Now (BRN) was copied from the Malaysian Model of Development and placed health as a key national result area and mainly was for priority setting, focused planning and efficient resource use.^[4] There are many other policies aiming at improving the health system and health care provision in Tanzania.

The leading causes of mortality in Tanzania include: HIV 17%, lower respiratory infections 11%, malaria 7%, diarrheal diseases 6%, tuberculosis 5%, cancer 5%, ischemic heart disease 3%, stroke 3%, STDs 3% and sepsis 2%^[5] and this shows the double burden of disease the country has to bear.