The US and Tanzania have entered a five-year, $3.1bn bilateral health co-operation memorandum of understanding (MoU) to prevent the spread of infectious diseases and strengthen Tanzania’s health system.
Under the MoU, Tanzania has committed more than $1.8bn for its health systems during the five-year period, while the US government, working with Congress, intends to provide more than $1.3bn over the same timeframe.
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The agreement was signed through the Trump administration’s America First Global Health Strategy (AFGHS).
It sets out cooperation in strengthening health systems, improving digital health infrastructure, expanding disease surveillance and enhancing health security.
Tanzania Health Minister Mohammed Mchengerwa said: “This MoU demonstrates the Government of Tanzania’s commitment to investing in the health and well-being of our people.
“Our co-investment will strengthen health infrastructure, expand the health workforce, improve disease surveillance, and accelerate the development of modern laboratory and digital health systems.”
The MoU backs Tanzania’s plans to create a unified national digital health ecosystem spanning five areas: clinical care, health financing and insurance, supply chains, public health and surveillance, and citizen services.
Other components include establishing and operationalising the Tanzania National Public Health Institute at national and subnational levels.
The agreement also covers strengthening clinical research capabilities at Tanzanian health research institutions and supporting malaria-elimination efforts in Zanzibar.
Separately, it aims to develop an integrated, interoperable laboratory network across the health system.
The network is intended to meet the benchmarks of the 7-1-7 outbreak detection and response framework, under which suspected outbreaks should be detected within seven days, reported to public health authorities within one day, and met with an effective response within a further seven days.
7-1-7 outbreak detection is a target: detect a suspected outbreak within 7 days, report in 1 day, and respond within 7 days.
US Embassy Tanzania acting chargé d’affaires Jeanne Clark added: “By investing together, we are strengthening Tanzania’s ability to prevent, detect, and respond rapidly to health threats, while building self-sustaining systems that can continue delivering high-quality services for generations.”
