Ifakara Health opens new registry for newborns in Dar

DAR ES SALAAM: THE Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) has today launched a new registry in the city to collect data on the newborns.

Speaking in Dar es Salaam during the project’s launch, Dr. Honorati Masanja, the Director of IHI, stated that the registry will help in gathering information related to various issues and deaths among newborns.

“This programme has started here in Dar es Salaam, and we will later expand to all hospitals providing the newborn care. Once the system is operational, it will be distributed further because the books need to be printed. This is the government’s responsibility, specifically the Ministry of Health and the local governments’ ministry,” said Dr. Masanja, who is also the National Coordinator for the Nest360 Tanzania program.

The current statistics show that for every 1,000 live births, 24 die during infancy. Sustainable development goals require reducing this number by 2030, to 12 deaths per 1,000 live births, or even fewer. Dr. Masanja emphasized that efforts to accelerate progress in this area are needed.

Dr Angela Leonard, the Coordinator of Newborn Health Services at the Ministry of Health, explained that the registry idea in 2018 when the data showed there number of newborn deaths was extremely high.

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She added that the government, in collaboration with the Office of the President, Regional and Local Government Authorities (Tamisemi), is continuing to provide training to service providers on how to fill in the registry. The first round of online training has already been conducted for regional coordinators nationwide.

She also noted that printing of the books is ongoing, and they are in the process of distribution.

The representative from Tamisemi, Mary Shadrack, expressed gratitude to all stakeholders involved in developing the registry.

She highlighted that the registry will help identify and acknowledge children born with any disabilities, facilitating better policy implementation and services.

“We see significant improvements that we didn’t have before. Previously, we used old registries where we couldn’t track why children were born or died, but this new system will allow us to identify the challenges faced by each child,” she said.

Professor Emevitus Manji, a representative from the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), said for a long time, Tanzania has been facing challenges in obtaining reliable data on newborns. He said this new system will help the government make informed decisions.

“Previously, data was written on pieces of paper or cards, which often got lost, so we couldn’t track how many children, were born or faced issues. The government struggled to plan effectively,” he said.

The new registry marks a major step forward in improving newborn health care in Tanzania.