Reaching people through universal health coverage
With over 70 per cent of Tanzanians lacking health insurance, it was a timely moment for health stakeholders as they marched peacefully in Dar es Salaam streets to raise their voices for those who miss out on healthcare services due to financial challenges.
Escorted by a brass band from the Dar es Salaam police, the campaigners from People’s Health Movement (PHM), Health Promotion Tanzania (HDT) and AgaKhan Health Services, streamed along the Ali Hassan Mwinyi Road from Hubert Kairuki Memorial Hospital then to Kawawa Road before branching off to the Biafra grounds in Kinondoni district.
It was on Wednesday December 12 during the Universal Health Coverage Day 2018 as the world campaigned for a movement to ensure that every person—no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they have, can access quality health services without suffering financial hardship. The aim is to achieve the vision by 2030.
In Dar es Salaam, a message of solidarity was echoed among stakeholders as they aimed to implore the country’s decision makers in healthcare to bridge healthcare financing gaps but also calling upon the society to enroll on healthcare insurance.
The event, named Universal Health Care Day2018, was graced by the president of the Medical Association of Tanzania (MAT), Dr Elisha Osati who called on the government to look into ways of boosting primary healthcare as a way of reaching out to many people who are underserved in the country.
“We’ve all witnessed the efforts the current government is investing in improving healthcare delivery, but, there is still much to do to ensure that the health workforce is boosted. There are people who may have died because there was no doctor to see them. If there are enough doctors, a number of deaths can be reduced,’’ said Dr Osati at the event.
The Executive Director of People’s Health Movement, Mr Godfrey Philemon, said that it was time now for Tanzania to fast track the mandatory health insurance and the single health insurance plan as a way of supporting the over 70 per cent of the population n who are not on medical cover.
“Right now, we are seeing inequities in healthcare provision because the health insurance system favours certain people and not others. For instance, the services obtained by a person with a Community Health Fund insurance do not match those of a person with National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF). This is what we need to work on now,” said Mr Philemon.
For his part, the Health Promotion Tanzania (HDT) Executive Director Dr Peter Bujari advised politicians to invest their effort in supporting universal health coverage because it has significant political benefits too.
Dr Bujari added that a health financing strategy which the government is now planning to implement would come as a relief to people and replace private voluntary health financing especially the out-of-pocket payment. He emphasized, “The government should allocate and disburse enough funds for the health sector, aiming to reach government expenditure of 4 per cent of GDP by 2023 an estimated Sh24.7 trillion for five year,” he said.
