The Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Hussein Mwinyi
The Tanzania government is, for the first time, to make a budgetary allocation from domestic resources for family planning activities in the 2013/2014 national budget.
The decision is based on the government’s goal to make Contraceptive
Prevalence Rate (CPR) grow at more than three per cent annually so that
the country attains a 60 per cent CPR by 2015.
The Minister for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Hussein Mwinyi, said
this on Friday evening when he met with stakeholders to debrief them on
the outcome of the London Family Planning Summit.
The meeting was
organized by Advance Family Planning and UN Fund for Population
Activities (UNFPA).
He said the government did not initially allocate funds because it
was leaving it for the basket fund. He said Tanzania was committed to
increase contraceptive prevalence rate to 60 per cent by 2015, exuding
the government’s determination to increase family planning users from
2.1 million (2010) to 4.2 million by 2015.
“In this regard the government is committed to increase mobilization
of domestic resources for Family Planning. For Tanzania, this means
local budgetary funds and also soliciting support from partners to meet
the total commodity and supply cost estimated at $88.2m by 2015,” he
said.
He said Tanzania would continue to implement its National Family
Planning Cost Implementation Programme (2010-2015), which has set a
Contraceptive Prevalence Rate goal of 60 per cent. He said the Ministry
of Health and Social Welfare would ensure an annual increase in domestic
resources to strengthen contraceptive availability while enhancing
strategic partnerships for improving access of all contraceptive
methods.
Parallel to these efforts, they would also mobilize resources pledged
from the London Summit to compliment the government efforts. He also
noted that along with these efforts, the government is determined to
strengthen Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) to ensure improvement in
equipment and supplies as well as quality of services that also target
young people.
The international community convened in London, at a Family Planning
Summit two months ago to re-affirm its commitment to strengthen family
planning services especially in developing countries. “This gathering
provided an opportunity to take stock of progress in family planning, as
well as determine how we could collectively mobilize the necessary
resources for expanding access and method mix to those needing the
services,” the minister said.
The Family Planning Summit, co-hosted by the UK government, Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation in collaboration with UNFPA had an ambitious
resolve – to ensure an additional 120 million women in developing
countries in the world, including Tanzania, enjoy access to life saving
family planning information, services and supplies by the end of this
decade.
He said the Summit pledged $4.6 billion that will go a long way to
improving services and ensure access for 380 million women and girls in
developing countries by 2020. The Summit included thematic areas of
increasing access and expanding choice, integrating family planning with
women’s and children’s health services including HIV, ensuring equity
and promoting rights (including those of young people), partnering for
progress and the role of public/private partnerships and donor
commitments.
He said the highlight of the Summit was the high level segment which
brought together a panel number of high-level speakers including
President Jakaya Kikwete, other Heads of State and Government, Heads
of UN Agencies and Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) from private
companies.
He said what this meant to the developing world, including Tanzania,
is anticipation for additional financial resources would be made
available to countries through a range of channels. He said they include
support to procurement of cost-effective commodities, support to
scaling up services, and support to innovative and new approaches to
reaching the poorest and most vulnerable women and girls.
By ORTON KIISHWEKO, Tanzania Daily News
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