Health: Push for pro-poor system

Dar es Salaam. Campaigners for better healthcare access in Tanzania yesterday marched in Dar es Salam, pressing for a health financing system that would protect the poor and marginalized people who are not covered under the current health insurance schemes.

As part of the ‘Universal Health Coverage Day’ (UHC Day) which is marked annually on December 12th, the campaigners, under the People’s Health Movement (PHM) want everyone to have ready access to quality healthcare products and services regardless of their financial status.

This comes a few weeks after the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) rolled out new insurance packages that give options for people to choose the health services, depending on what they can afford. The move has triggered heated public debate.

During the event yesterday, Ms Sarah Kitainda from Sadeline Kitainda in Dar es Salaam pointed out that, despite the current efforts being made by the government to transform the Health sector, much more investment is required to effectively support the poorest and most vulnerable segments of the population.

“There is still a challenge when it comes to ensuring that everyone has access to quality healthcare in Tanzania - despite the introduction of new health insurance schemes,” she added.

Referring to the newly-launched NHIF packages, Ms Kitainda said the initiative does not address the challenges faced by people living in rural Tanzania.

“Only those from the informal sector who own businesses will be able to join the schemes. But, for Tanzanians who do not earn even Sh1000 per day can’t afford the costs. Hence the dire need for the government to find a better way of financing healthcare in general,” she said.

The UHC Day, which is marked to raise awareness on the need for strong and resilient healthcare systems and health for all was this year inspired by the theme: ‘Keep The Promise.’

“If the government really wants to ensure that everyone - particularly people in the informal economy - has access to quality healthcare, it has to invest or otherwise contribute financially to empower Tanzanians from poor households to have health insurance cover,” said Mr Jabir Jabir, a representative of the Morogoro-based NGO ‘Gender’ at a ceremony to commemorate the International UHC Day-2019 held in the commercial capital yesterday.

The Health ministry’s director for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Prof Ayoub Magimba, said the government is determined to improve the Health sector by increasing its annual budget allocations. He added that the rolling-out of the NHIF packages was part of the positive moves by the government.

“Tanzania is a leading country in Africa that has made remarkable progress in the realization of the UHC targets,” said Prof Magimba who was the Chief Guest at the UHC Day celebrations.

For his part, the PHM director, Mr Godfrey Philemon, raised optimism by saying that there was still room for Tanzania to achieve the UHC objective despite the persisting challenges in funding.

“Massive investments are required for healthcare promotion and disease prevention in order to create public awareness - especially on NCDs,’’ he said.