Through programs funded by the CDC and USAID, MSH works with Tanzania’s public health institutions to strengthen systems and services across the HIV care spectrum, including digitizing patient data for evidence-based decision making and strengthening human resources for health and quality of services. MSH also supports global health security activities, such as optimizing the use of antimicrobials and strengthening infection prevention and control practices. 

Highlights

• Helped develop a health client registry—a groundbreaking innovation that gives each patient a unique health sector identifier and enables support of data among information systems and continuity of HIV and other services.

• Supported the development and implementation of continuous quality improvement and task-sharing programs to help address service gaps, particularly for HIV and AIDS prevention, detection, and treatment.

• Helped the medicines regulatory authority develop and roll out the accredited drug dispensing outlet (ADDO) program, a public-private partnership, to improve access to quality medicines in underserved areas that have frequent drug shortages. More than 14,000 shops have been accredited nationwide. ADDO dispensers are trained to refer complicated cases to a health facility, and 99% of shoppers presenting a pneumonia scenario received an antimicrobial (54%), a referral (90%), or both (45%), which are recommended practices for managing pediatric pneumonia. In addition, an analysis of 202 medicine samples from ADDOs showed that more than 90% met quality standards.

• Developed a system to support ADDOs in referring presumptive TB cases from TB diagnostic centers. One study found that of 587 people referred by drug sellers for TB diagnosis, 14% were confirmed as TB patients.

• Helped the national TB program adopt an electronic quantification tool to provide more timely, accurate, and reliable data on stock supplies and patient enrollment. Stock-outs of first-line medicines decreased from 29% to 11% and of second-line medicines from 17% to 9% from January 2014 to April 2016.