Health and Health Services
Article 14
In Tanzania the right to health is not provided by either Constitution. Under the Union the
State will provide for the sick, disabled and incapacitated ‘within the limits of its
economic capacity and development’. The duty to preserve the life and health of the
vulnerable (including children and the mentally ill) is imposed on parents, guardians or
care takers,
Despite this, the Government is committed to the attainment of the MDGs, the
MKUKUTA and MKUZA goals and the Health Sector Reform Programme and has
defined the following as priority areas: malaria, TB, leprosy and HIV/AIDS; human
resources, particularly in remote areas; promotion of reproductive child health;
rehabilitation of all public health facilities, including hospital equipment; and the
rationalization of allocation of drugs and medical supplies. Children under five currently
receive free primary health care and medical treatment in Government clinics and
dispensaries.
Access to quality health care - Proximity to primary health care facilities has improved
for instence almost 100 per cent of the urban population and close to three-quarters of the
rural population live within five kilometres of a health centre or a dispensary. 31
One of
the Government priorities includes to establish, expand and strengthen community based
reproductive and child health services. Others are immunisation, Malaria Control
Programme, nutritional and child mortality interventions and provision of safe water and
sanitation practices.
The quality of health services remains a problem due to a number of factors, including
human resource problems, and inadequate medical equipments. Health care charges
(user fees/cost sharing) and other ‘unofficial’ costs also pose challenges for issues of
31
Poverty and Human Development Report 2005.
32