Tanzania cherishes the effective use of statistics to improve health services

ISTANBUL: TANZANIA has assured stakeholders in the Health Sector to continue using research results, accurate statistics, and international cooperation to improve health services for its citizens, as it is the commitment of the government to protect the health of women and children.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Grace Magembe said this while leading the Tanzanian delegation at the Scientific Conference for the launch of a research project to prevent Non-Communicable Diseases in Pregnant Women and Infants held in Istanbul, Turkey.

“Let me assure you that we will continue to use research results, accurate statistics, and international cooperation to improve health services for citizens because our government is determined to protect the health of women and children, strengthen health statistics, and promote national and international cooperation for the benefit of Tanzanians,” said Dr Magembe.

Dr Magembe said ongoing efforts to improve maternal, child, and reproductive health services include improving the data collection system through DHIS2 and EMR, strengthening the MPDSR system in monitoring and reporting maternal deaths, and adding sections to receive information on disabilities and physical challenges in the MTUHA books.

“In addition to improving the registration of information for girls under 18 years of age to allow for monitoring of services during pregnancy, the government’s focus is to collect data on diseases such as Hepatitis B in newborns to eliminate the three major infectious diseases from mother to child, which are HIV, hepatitis and syphilis,” said Dr Magembe.

“Let me use this opportunity to remind and emphasize to all stakeholders that the Government’s current priority is to improve existing health information systems, especially in primary health, where the system currently used is GOTHOMIS. We will be ready to add additional information if needed and not to establish new data collection systems,” stressed Dr Magembe.

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Also, Dr Magembe thanked all stakeholders, including KCRI and Cork University in Ireland for their willingness to collaborate with the Tanzanian Government to improve health services, especially to strengthen systems and obtain good and reliable statistics that will guide the government in planning and allocating resources for various health interventions.