Saving lives at birth and beyond, Tanzania

Situation

Mkoani District, Pemba Island faces an acute healthcare crisis, largely due to chronic underfunding, aging infrastructure, little training and a lack of functional equipment. Kengeja, Shamiani and Wambaa are the 3 main clinics, collectively serving the 20,000 rural population. Lack of staff mean they operate part-time and when open, largely function without electricity severely limiting services and causing unnecessary suffering, exacerbating treatable ailments and curtailing life expectancy.

Solution

Working with our in country partner, your support will enable us to provide the vital infrastructure, equipment and training to upgrade the 3 primary health care clinics – the first point of call for communities facing medical issues and emergencies. Working with the community, especially mothers, we will map healthcare needs and gaps, support the ongoing renovations so that they can best meet the needs of the population, train healthcare staff, all prioritising maternal and newborn care.

• Train 25 healthcare professionals in primary healthcare, particularly specialising in maternal and newborn healthcare

• Support ongoing renovations at Shamiani and Wambaa clinics and the total reconstruction of the Kengeja clinic including the provision of adequate maternal infrastructure and birthing facilities

• Support the strengthening of operations and processes at all three clinics to both meet healthcare demand and have a reliable and safe way to be treated.

Campaign Budget

• £25,000 – Staff training

• £125,000 – Infrastructure upgrade

• £75,000 – Equipment

• £25,000 – Overheads/administration

Impact

A population of over 10,000 women, children and men will have access to adequate urgent, out of hours and routine healthcare within the Mkoani district locality. The rate of maternal and newborn death and complications decreases. Patients travel shorter distances to receive the majority of the healthcare needs. Any patients requiring specialist services are triaged in the shortest available timeframe and transported comfortably to the central hospital.

Reporting

We will measure our impact by collecting primary data on the number and reason of referrals and patients treated. We will analyse secondary district wide data on the number of maternal and newborn death and complications. We will collect survey data form clinic patients and households in the District on perceptions about the clinic, level of care and expertise provided.