Dar es Salaam, 9 September 2015 - The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare with support from the World Health Organization, is hosting the Annual Conference for Regional and District Medical Officers to deliberate on how to strengthen health service delivery in the country.

The Annual Conference gathers more than 300 health experts including Regional and District medical officers from the 25 Regions, directors of referral hospitals and health institutes, senior management officials from Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) and Prime Minister’s Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PMORALG), representatives from private sectors, civil society organizations, development partners including staff from WHO and UNICEF, and members of the media.

The opening of the three day meeting was officiated by His Excellency, Dr. Mohammed Gharib Bilal, Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania. Others present to officiate at the conference were: the Deputy Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Kebwe Stephen Kebwe, the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Donan Mmbando, the Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Magreth Mhando, the Deputy Permanent Secretary for Prime Minsters Office, Regional Administration and Local Government (PMORALG), Dr. Deo Mtasiwa, the WHO Representative, Dr. Rufaro Chatora and the UNICEF Representative, Dr. Jama Gulaid.

In his opening remarks, the Vice President commended the health sector and the frontline workers for the significant achievements made in reducing childhood morbidity and mortality as a result of high immunization coverage, Malaria control, Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) and Health Sector Reforms. He especially congratulated the Regions that are making progress towards reducing maternal, newborn and child mortality and urged all the Regional and District Health Teams and the Local Government Authorities to work together to reflect on “what can be done to address the challenges locally” and also “learn from those who have made progress”. Dr. Bilal encouraged participants to use the conference as an opportunity to deliberate on how to sustain the gains achieved in the sector while finding solutions to the challenges facing the health system.

The WHO Representative, Dr Rufaro Chatora, in his message congratulated the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare for hosting such an important gathering every year and commended significant progress realized in achieving the agreed health indicators. The speech commended the national authorities for demonstrating exemplary leadership in accelerating efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality. While noting tremendous progress made in the attainment of MDG 4, he said “the challenge remains to sustain the gains and to address the causes of neonatal, child and maternal mortality through improving quality of care, ensuring universal access to cost effective interventions”.

Regarding the need to strengthen country’s preparedness for outbreaks of endemic diseases as well as new and re-emerging diseases, Dr. Chatora said, “The Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) if correctly implemented can be the foundation in identifying, assessing and responding to communicable disease outbreaks including epidemics in Africa. For that reason Regions and Districts need to strengthen the implementation of IDSR”. He concluded by urging regions and districts to “take up leadership and ownership of the Disaster Risk Management implementation process by assessing and mapping their unmet needs, and allocating adequate human and financial resources to meet them through their Regional and Comprehensive Council Health Plans (CCHPs). Where possible develop, assess and revise regional contingency plans and build capacity to detect and respond timely to emergencies.”

The conference participants over the three days will deliberate on how to strengthen health service delivery in the country through presentations and panel discussions. The Permanent Secretary will also have an opportunity to have private meetings with the RMOs and DMOs to deliberate on challenges encountered in providing quality health care services.

During the event the Vice President participated in a number of activities including:

• Launching commemorations of 40th Anniversary of the Immunization and Vaccine Programme
• Presenting awards to retired Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and Chief Medical Officers for their contribution to the successes of the Immunization and Vaccine Programme
• Presenting awards to three best performing Regions in the provision of immunization services, these were: Pwani, Mwanza and Mbeya Regions
• Presenting awards to five best performing Districts in the provision of immunization services, these were: Rufiji, Mbarali, Kibondo, Musoma and Rombo Districts
• Presenting awards to national health staff that supported the Ebola Outbreak response in West Africa

WHO also provided the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare equipment and supplies to strengthen Maternal and Child Health, scaling up nutrition interventions, Prostate cancer awareness campaign, Ebola preparedness and the Cholera Outbreak response in the country. Items handed over included: medical equipment, IT equipment, RCH cards and registers, PPEs and Chlorine, all worth a total of US$ 618, 137 equivalent to Tanzania Shillings 1,322,813,180.

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01. Cross-section of meeting participants

02. The Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania handing over a certificate of appreciation to one of the WHO staff that supported the Ebola Outbreak response in West Africa

03. The Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania handing over a plaque to a representative of one of the best performing districts in the provision of immunization services

04. The Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania in a group photo with the retired Ministers, Deputy Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Chief Medical Officers and IVD Programme Managers