Benefits of Investing on Mother and Child Healthcare in Tanzania

Authors

  • Johnson Nzau Mavole St. Augustine University of Tanzania

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47941/ijhmnp.1348

Keywords:

Investing, Mother and child healthcare, Health outcomes

Abstract

Purpose: Maternal and child healthcare play crucial role in reducing global mortality rates, with a significant impact on the overall burden of disease. The Sustainable Development Goal 3 aims to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births by 2030. Sub-Saharan Africa, including Tanzania, carries a high burden of mortality rates and experiences a significant share of maternal and child deaths, exacerbating the global figures. The average prevalence of below 5 years mortality in SSA between 2010 and 2018 was 4.10% according to Ahinkorah (2021). Recognizing the severity of this issue, the government of Tanzania through the Development Agenda 2025, Draft health policy 2020 and the current Health Sector strategic plan 2021-2026 plans to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates through mother and child healthcare investment. The Health Sector Strategic Plan focuses on strengthening the health systems in the country and aims to sustain the achievements made in enhancing the health of reproductive, maternal, newborn, children, and adolescent populations. This study sought to assess the benefits of investing on mother and child healthcare in Tanzania. The study was guided by the investment commodity theory developed by the economist John Maynard Keynes in 1936. The study evaluated the current status of mother and child health indicators, the benefits of investing in mother and child health on overall health outcomes and identified the existing gaps and challenges in the provision, access and utilization of mother and child healthcare services in Tanzania.

Methodology: The study was a desktop review-based study which relied on existing published information, data, and literature.

Findings: The study found out that there have been improvements in certain areas of mother and child health indicators but maternal and child mortality rates remain high. Health interventions such as vaccination programs, improved access to healthcare services, and the use of maternal and child health insurance cards showed positive effects on reducing child mortality, improving child health outcomes, and enhancing maternal healthcare utilization. The significant gaps and challenges in the provision, access, and utilization of mother and child healthcare services include disparities in access to healthcare services based on factors such as education level and wealth status, inadequate healthcare infrastructure, long distances to health facilities, sociocultural barriers, and financial constraints.

Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study recommends strengthening of healthcare infrastructure, enhancing access to maternal and child healthcare services, especially for vulnerable populations, promoting health education and raising awareness about maternal and child healthcare practices, addressing the shortage of skilled healthcare professionals, improving data collection and use and monitoring of maternal and child health indicators, addressing socio-cultural barriers that hinder access and utilization of healthcare services and increasing investment in mother and child health care programs through allocate adequate resources.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Johnson Nzau Mavole, St. Augustine University of Tanzania

Senior Researcher

References

Afnan-Holmes, H., Magoma, M., John, T., Levira, F., Msemo, G., Armstrong, C. E., ... & Lawn, J. E. (2015). Tanzania's countdown to 2015: an analysis of two decades of progress and gaps for reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health, to inform priorities for post-2015. The Lancet Global Health, 3(7), e396-e409.

Ahinkorah B. O. (2021). Under-5 mortality in sub-Saharan Africa: is maternal age at first childbirth below 20 years a risk factor?. BMJ open, 11(9), e049337. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049337

Bintabara, D., Nakamura, K., & Seino, K. (2018). Improving access to healthcare for women in Tanzania by addressing socioeconomic determinants and health insurance: a population-based cross-sectional survey. BMJ open, 8(9), e023013.

Bwana, V. M., Rumisha, S. F., Mremi, I. R., Lyimo, E. P., & Mboera, L. E. (2019). Patterns and causes of hospital maternal mortality in Tanzania: A 10-year retrospective analysis. PloS one, 14(4), e0214807.

CDC (2022). Reproductive health. Maternal and Reproductive Health in Tanzania Project. Retrieved 25th May 2023. From, https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/global/ programs/maternal-reproductive-health-tanzania/index.htm#:~:text=The%20proportion %20of%20births%20taking,a%20decline%20of%2043%25).

Government of Tanzania (2021). Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children Health Sector Strategic Plan July 2021 - June 2026 (HSSP V). Retrieved on 30th May 2023. From;https://mitu.or.tz/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Tanzania-Health-Sector-Strategic-Plan-V-17-06-2021-Final-signed.pdf.

Government of Tanzania (2021). National Five-Year Development Plan 2021/22 - 2025/26. "Realising Competitiveness and Industrialisation for Human Development." Retrieved on 30th May 2023. From; https://smartdatafinance.org/storage/2021-10-19/5tWlz4vFWrcMarJ.pdf

Hanson, C., Ronsmans, C., Penfold, S., Maokola, W., Manzi, F., Jaribu, J., ... & Schellenberg, J. (2013). Health system support for childbirth care in Southern Tanzania: results from a health facility census. BMC research notes, 6(1), 1-11.

Kehengu G. (2019). Analysis of maternal health care utilization and its effect on child health outcomes in Tanzania. (Dissertation, Mzumbe University, Tanzania).

Keynes, J. M. (1936). The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. Harcourt, Brace, & World.

Kibesa, S. J., Kitua, Y. W., & Kitua, D. W. (2022). Determinants of Antenatal Healthcare Services Utilisation: A Case of Dodoma, Tanzania. EA Health Research Journal, 6(2), 155-161.

Kinyondo, A. A., Ntegwa, M. J., & Masawe, C. A. (2022). Socioeconomic Inequality in Maternal Healthcare Services: The Case of Tanzania. African Journal of Economic Review, 10(1), 254-285.

Kuwawenaruwa, A., Mtei, G., Baraka, J., & Tani, K. (2016). The effects of MCH insurance cards on improving equity in access and use of maternal and child health care services in Tanzania: a mixed methods analysis. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition, 35(1), 1-10.

Mahiti, G. R., Mkoka, D. A., Kiwara, A. D., Mbekenga, C. K., Hurtig, A. K., & Goicolea, I. (2015). Women's perceptions of antenatal, delivery, and postpartum services in rural Tanzania. Global health action, 8(1), 28567.

Mangu, C. D., Rumisha, S. F., Lyimo, E. P., Mremi, I. R., Massawe, I. S., Bwana, V. M., ... & Mboera, L. E. (2021). Trends, patterns and cause-specific neonatal mortality in Tanzania: a hospital-based retrospective survey. International Health, 13(4), 334-343.

Mdoe, P., Katengu, S., Guga, G., Daudi, V., Kiligo, I. E., Gidabayda, J., ... & Mduma, E. (2022). Perinatal mortality audit in a rural referral hospital in Tanzania to inform future interventions: A descriptive study. Plos one, 17(3), e0264904.

Niyeha, D., Malamsha, D., Mpembeni, R., Charwe, D., Epimark, S., Malima, K., ... & Heidkamp, R. (2018). Explaining progress towards Millennium Development Goal 4 for child survival in Tanzania. Journal of global health, 8(2).

Ogbo, F. A., Ezeh, O. K., Awosemo, A. O., Ifegwu, I. K., Tan, L., Jessa, E., ... & Agho, K. E. (2019). Determinants of trends in neonatal, post-neonatal, infant, child and under-five mortalities in Tanzania from 2004 to 2016. BMC public health, 19, 1-12.

Ruhago, G. M. (2015). Economic evaluation and equity impact analysis of interventions for maternal and child health in Tanzania. Evidence for fair and efficient priority setting. Retrieved on 25th May 2023. From; https://bora.uib.no/bora-xmlui/handle/1956/11926

Shija, A. E., Msovela, J., & Mboera, L. E. (2011). Maternal health in fifty years of Tanzania independence: challenges and opportunities of reducing maternal mortality. Tanzania Journal of Health Research, 13(5).

UNICEF (2023). Monitoring the situation of children and women. Retrieved on 30th May 2023. From; https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-survival/under-five-mortality/#:~:text= The%20under%2Dfive%20mortality%20rate,5%20years%20of%20age%20died.

United Nations (2022) The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2022. Retrieved from https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/report/2022/The-Sustainable-Development-Goals-Report-2022.pdf on 2nd June, 2023

USAID (2021). Maternal and child health fact sheet. Retrieved on 24th May 2023. From; https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2022-05/Maternal_and_Child_Health_Fact_Sheet_May_2021.pdf.

World Health Organization (2021). Global expenditure on health: public spending on the rise? Geneva: World Health Organization. Retrieved on 24th May 2023. From https://www.who.int/about/funding/invest-in-who/investment-case-2.0/case-for-health

World Health Organization (2023). A woman dies every two minutes due to pregnancy or childbirth: UN agencies. Retrieved on 30th May 2023. From; https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/february-2023/woman-dies-every-two-minutes-due-pregnancy-or-childbirth-un-agencies.

World Health Organization. (2015). Strategies towards ending preventable maternal mortality (EPMM). Retrieved on 24th May 2023. From: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/153540/WHO_RHR_1

Downloads

Published

2023-07-10

How to Cite

Mavole, J. N. (2023). Benefits of Investing on Mother and Child Healthcare in Tanzania. International Journal of Health, Medicine and Nursing Practice, 5(2), 63–84. https://doi.org/10.47941/ijhmnp.1348

Issue

Section

Articles