United Republic of Tanzania News

Dar es Salaam—More Tanzanians are gaining access to essential oral health services, which is bringing the country closer to its goal of 45% oral health service coverage by 2030 and strengthening Universal Health Coverage (UHC) at the primary care level.

Brazzaville/Arusha—Today World Health Organization (WHO)’s Regional Office for Africa (AFRO) and the East, Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration in advancing health outcomes and resilient health systems across the East, Central and Southern African region.

Dodoma—The Government of Tanzania is taking bold steps to strengthen services for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) by embracing the WHO package of essential NCD interventions (PEN) and Regional PEN-Plus Strategy. This initiative builds on the momentum created during the first Regional Conference on PEN-Plus, held in Tanzania in April 2024, which reflected the country’s commitment to improving health outcomes for its most vulnerable populations.

Dodoma—Oral health remains a global concern, affecting approximately 3.7 billion people. Tanzania, like many African countries, had long faced persistent challenges in this area. While the prevalence of certain conditions, such as dental caries, was comparatively lower than in neighboring countries, periodontal disease remains widespread, impacting an estimated 57.4% of children and 62.8% of adults. These high rates are often linked to limited access to dental care.

Dodoma—Tanzania has taken a major step toward strengthening its capacity to respond to public health emergencies and disasters through the successful completion of a three-day Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) Awareness Orientation Session. The high-level engagement brought together senior government officials, leaders, technical experts, and partners to advance the establishment of nationally coordinated EMTs in line with World Health Organization (WHO) standards.

Dar es Salaam—Tanzania joins the world in marking Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day 2025 under the global theme “Unaffordable health costs? We’re sick of it!”. A call to action to ensure that no one is forced to choose between health care and basic needs such as food, education or housing.

Across the African Region, as noted by WHO Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Mohamed Janabi, financial hardship continues to push millions into poverty, despite progress in service coverage. Out-of-pocket payments remain among the biggest barriers to accessing care.

Dar Es Salaam—In Tanzania, the fight against epidemics begins long before the first case is detected. While Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) training has reached national and subnational levels, a critical gap remains as future doctors, nurses, and environmental health officers often graduate without formal exposure to surveillance competencies.

Dar es Salaam—Tanzania’s health system is strengthening its ability to routinely identify and respond to the health needs of persons with disabilities through the use of disability-disaggregated data, an important step towards more equitable, inclusive and accountable Universal Health Coverage (UHC).