The Challenge

The scale of suffering and preventable loss of life caused by the health crisis in sub-Saharan Africa is staggering. Each and every day, over two thousand children under five years of age die of malaria, a preventable and easily treatable disease.  In fact, the region has one quarter of the global disease burden but tragically only three percent of the health workers.

The international community has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to improve health outcomes in sub-Saharan Africa, and African leaders have pledged to dramatically increase their domestic spending on healthcare. However, many of these programs have targeted specific diseases, perhaps by providing more medicines, without necessarily ensuring that the hospitals and wider health systems handle them. In other words, the system remains broken or damaged because there has been little or no workforce development or improved hospital management. When so many resources are lacking – hospitals, drugs, transportation and communication systems – it can seem difficult to know where to begin.

Why are health workers important?

The World Health Organization has stated that the shortage of trained health workers – doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians and others – is a fundamental barrier to improving health around the world. Without trained health workers, no amount of money, medication, or equipment can save lives.

The problem in Tanzania

In Tanzania, the health worker shortage is particularly severe – and mortality rates are persistently high. To meet the recommended 2.3 health workers for every 1,000 people, which the World Health Organization says are needed to provide basic care, Tanzania requires 110,000 health workers today. In fact the country has only 26,000 health workers – not even a quarter of the need – and the population is set to increase. In practice this means that there are insufficient public clinics, where most Tanzanians seek care, and those that exist average only three workers when they should have ten; private dispensaries average only one. So patients who have traveled days to reach a clinic may find no one there to help them. Read more about the situation in Tanzania.

The Tanzanian Government’s strategy

The Tanzanian Government is determined to improve health care and pledged in 2007 to build hundreds of new clinics and health centers to ensure that no one is more than five kilometers (three miles) from medical care. This infrastructure is essential, but without medical staff, managers, drugs, and other resources, its impact will be limited.

The opportunity

The Touch Foundation is tackling the problem at its root – using a systems-based approach. We have assessed the need and we are currently putting in place innovative solutions, which must be both comprehensive and sustainable. These achievements will be relevant to other African nations as well, as we ultimately aim to develop a model that we and others may tailor to the health care needs across sub-Saharan Africa.