Government expands health services, insurance coverage

DODOMA: MORE Tanzanians are gaining access to healthcare as the government expands health facilities, recruits more workers and rolls out universal health insurance, the Deputy Minister for Health Dr Florence Samizi told parliament on yesterday.

She said the government is implementing the Fifth Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP V), covering 2021–2026, to expand access to quality health services through local government authorities.

Responding to a basic question from Zena Katambo (Special Seats, CCM), who wanted to know the government’s plans to improve access to healthcare, Dr Samizi said the health budget had increased from 1.1tri/- in 2022/23 to 1.8tri/- in 2025/26.

She said, the government recruited 53,633 health workers across different cadres between 2021 and March 2026, most of them deployed to primary healthcare facilities. The number of health workers consequently increased to 182,430.

On healthcare affordability, Dr Samizi said the government is implementing Universal Health Insurance (UHI), with 276,004 households, representing 100 per cent of targeted poor households under the first phase, registered by June 2026.

A total of 1.4 million beneficiaries had been covered by government-funded health insurance, she said.

In a supplementary question, Ms Katambo asked how the government planned to involve stakeholders, including private healthcare providers, in implementing UHI.

Dr Samizi said the Ministry of Health will continue working with the Prime Minister’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government (PMO-RALG) to mobilise funds for the construction of health centres and dispensaries in Lindi.The number of health facilities also rose from 10,153 in 2021/22 to 13,683 by March 2026, she said.

“The objective is to bring health services closer to citizens by expanding health facilities, recruiting more health workers and ensuring people can access affordable healthcare,” said Dr Samizi.

she said priority will be given to strategic health facilities to improve access to services for residents.

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On UHI, Dr Samizi said the government was working with stakeholders, including private healthcare providers, to broaden access to healthcare.

She further said that private health facilities would also provide services under the UHI programme, provided they met the standards and conditions established for healthcare providers.

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