Alliance demands urgent action on Tanzania’s NCD burden

By Katare Mbashiru

Dodoma. The Tanzania Non-Communicable Disease Alliance (TANCDA) has intensified its call for a comprehensive legal and policy framework to tackle the country’s rapidly growing burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).

The Alliance warned lawmakers that Tanzania risks a looming health and economic crisis without urgent, coordinated action.

TANCDA, led by secretary general and chief executive Prof Kaushik Ramaiya, an internationally recognised expert on health systems and infectious and non-communicable diseases, convened the Parliamentary Committee on Health and HIV/AIDS at the parliament offices in Dodoma.

During the meeting held on Sunday, February 1, 2026, the meeting presented fresh evidence showing that NCDs have doubled in Tanzania over the past two decades and now account for more than 30 percent of all deaths.

The leading causes include cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory illnesses, and diabetes, largely driven by rapid urbanisation, lifestyle changes, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, tobacco use, and harmful alcohol consumption.

“We are facing a silent epidemic. Non-communicable diseases are no longer conditions of the future; they are here, affecting people in their most productive years,” Prof Ramaiya told the committee.

“Tanzania urgently needs a stronger legal and policy framework, better enforcement of existing regulations, improved community awareness, and a robust health system that can detect and treat NCDs early,” he added.

TANCDA called on Parliament to champion laws that promote healthier environments, strengthen regulation of tobacco and alcohol, encourage healthy diets and physical activity, and guarantee sustained financing for prevention, screening, and treatment services.

Although Tanzania launched the National NCD Prevention and Control Programme in 2019, focusing on integrating NCD services into primary healthcare, training health workers, and raising public awareness, TANCDA said implementation gaps remain, particularly at community and primary health facility levels.

“This is not the first time we are engaging Members of Parliament. But the scale of the problem continues to grow, and we must move from commitments to concrete action,” said Prof Ramaiya.

Committee Chairperson, Dr Johannes Lukumay, acknowledged the seriousness of the situation and pledged stronger parliamentary oversight.

“We have listened carefully to the evidence presented. As a committee, we are united and committed to seeing tangible changes in how the government implements measures to reduce the burden of NCDs. This is a national priority that can no longer be postponed,” he said.

His remarks were echoed by Committee Vice-Chairperson, Dr Zeyana Abdallah Hamid, who described NCDs as a cross-cutting challenge requiring multisectoral collaboration.

“We need joint efforts in policy and legal frameworks. We must intensify capacity-building programmes to enable early diagnosis, and we must increase the health sector budget to respond effectively,” she said.

Experts note that Tanzania is undergoing an epidemiological transition, with infectious diseases still prevalent while NCDs rise sharply.

Research shows increasing rates of diabetes and hypertension, alongside high prevalence of risk factors such as obesity, smoking, unhealthy diets, and physical inactivity, in both rural and urban areas.

However, nationally representative data on many risk factors and disease prevalence remain limited.

TANCDA urged the government to strengthen surveillance systems, expand targeted screening for high-risk populations, and invest in community-based prevention programmes that promote healthier lifestyles.

The alliance said it will continue engaging policymakers, civil society, and communities to ensure NCDs receive the same level of urgency as other major health priorities in the country.