Global Health - Tanzania

HIV/AIDS & TB

HIV/AIDS is a major public health issue, and CDC’s HIV program began with the goal of strengthening HIV prevention and control. With tuberculosis (TB) emerging as the leading cause of death among people living with HIV, CDC’s program has moved from one focused mainly on HIV prevention to one that addresses TB as well. CDC works closely with Tanzania’s Ministry of Health (MOH) to deliver high quality and high impact HIV interventions to reduce the incidence of new HIV infections and to reduce morbidity and mortality related to HIV/AIDS. The country is committed to achieving the UNAIDS goal of 90-90-90 by 2020 (90% of all people living with HIV will know their HIV status, 90% of all people with diagnosed HIV infection will receive sustained treatment, and 90% of all people receiving treatment will have viral load suppression).

CDC Tanzania also supports the MOH to scale up use of the Gene Xpert diagnostic test, which detects TB and multidrug resistance in TB clients. CDC supports robust scale up of isoniazid preventive therapy uptake for TB prevention and integrated provision of antiretroviral therapy for TB-HIV clients in TB clinics.

Malaria

As part of the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), CDC Tanzania supports the MOH in carrying out malaria prevention and control interventions, including providing long-lasting insecticide mosquito nets and indoor residual spray; preventing malaria in pregnancy; improving diagnostics and case management; and monitoring and evaluating malaria-related activities.

Health Security

As a priority country under the Global Health Security Agenda, Tanzania receives CDC support to strengthen the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System, which serves as the detection and reporting system for emerging infectious diseases and disease outbreaks in Tanzania, and to roll out community-based surveillance in two regions.

Health Information Systems

CDC Tanzania supports MOH e-health technology to adapt services to changes in the local HIV epidemic. This includes automated reporting systems that streamline service delivery in facilities, integrating client and disease information into one system, and supporting epidemiology, surveillance, and program monitoring and evaluation. CDC supports the mHealth Tanzania Public Private Partnership and its “Healthy Pregnancy, Healthy Baby” text messaging service, which provides critical maternal and child health messages directly to 1.6 million end-users. Twenty-six private partners contributed a total of USD 1.6 million to the project.

Workforce Development

CDC supports the Field Epidemiology Laboratory Training Program (FELTP), which trains a global workforce of field epidemiologists or “disease detectives” to keep people safe. Disease detectives are our “boots on the ground,” helping track, contain, and eliminate outbreaks before they become epidemics. CDC works closely with partner countries to establish FELTPs across the globe. Our training programs create a cadre of well-trained disease detectives with the skills to gather critical data and turn it into action. In 2017, Tanzania’s program had 86 Advanced and 79 Frontline graduates. The first cohort of the Intermediate program graduated in 2016.

Laboratory Support

Increased laboratory capacity allows for better detection of emerging pathogens and safer handling and transportation of laboratory samples. CDC Tanzania strengthens the quality of laboratory management systems to accurately diagnose, monitor, and treat infections from HIV/AIDS, TB, influenza viruses, and other pathogens. With CDC assistance, more than 700 healthcare facilities with laboratory services have been strengthened, and 18 of those facilities have completed a training and mentorship program toward accreditation. CDC also helped launch the Lab Logistics System, which provides critical data on laboratory usage of supplies to assist with tracking, managing, and restocking laboratory materials.

Maternal and Child Health

Through the CDC Foundation, in collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies and Foundation H&B Agerup, CDC provides monitoring and evaluation support to the Reducing Maternal Mortality in Tanzania Project. CDC continues its work in Kigoma through increasing skilled birth attendance and meeting the need for emergency obstetric and neonatal care.

Impact in Tanzania

• 847,000 adults and children received antiretroviral therapy in 2016.
• 90% TB treatment success rate in 2015.
• 1996: the last case of wild poliovirus reported in Tanzania
• Overall malaria prevalence among children <5 years decreased from 18% in 2007/08 to 7% in 2017.