Leap for primary healthcare
ARUSHA: THE government is moving to integrate digital systems across primary healthcare facilities to enhance real-time data sharing, streamline service delivery and automate digital payments for Community Health Workers (CHWs).
Speaking in Arusha yesterday, the Director of ICT at the President’s Office–Regional Administration and Local Government (PO-RALG), Mr Erick Kitali, said the success of Tanzania’s digital health transformation hinges on multi-institutional collaboration, visionary leadership and embedding technical experts in strategic decision-making.
Contributing to a panel discussion on public digital infrastructure at the 2nd International Primary Health Care Conference (IPHCC 2026), Mr Kitali emphasised that interconnecting government platforms is essential for timely data access and efficient public service delivery.
“We must prioritise institutional collaboration and systems integration. It is critical to ensure the right technical experts are at the decision-making table,” Mr Kitali said.
He noted that the country is leveraging home-grown expertise to design, develop and maintain primary healthcare platforms, including systems for patient registration, financial management and health information reporting.
As part of this digital push, the government has finalised a comprehensive technology blueprint for community health services, which includes establishing a Unified Dashboard to harmonise data across disparate health platforms.
According to Mr Kitali, the centralised platform will allow health authorities to track service delivery and stipend disbursements from the grassroots community level up to the national level, enabling rapid detection of operational bottlenecks such as payment delays.
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He stressed the importance of continuous research and implementation monitoring to identify emerging operational challenges early and trigger timely interventions.
Mr Kitali concluded that combining inter-institutional synergy, local engineering talent and integrated digital systems provides a vital foundation for improving primary healthcare services and ensuring citizens receive high-quality, timely care.
Opening the conference on Monday, the Prime Minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba called for increased investment in primary healthcare, urging greater use of scientific evidence, innovation and partnerships to improve the quality and efficiency of services and accelerate progress towards universal health coverage.
Dr Nchemba said sustainable health financing must go hand in hand with better service delivery, stressing that Tanzania’s progress in expanding access to healthcare should now be matched by efforts to improve the quality of services provided at community level.
The Prime Minister said there was no shortcut to improving health outcomes other than increasing investment in the sector, noting that the government had increased resources for healthcare while taking measures to reduce dependence on external donations for essential medicines.
He said strengthening the health workforce was also critical to meeting growing demand for healthcare services.
