The project aims to improve health services for mothers, newborn babies, and young children in all five districts of the Simiyu region in Tanzania. The project is designed to strengthen existing health systems and to empower community members, especially women, to demand the health services they require, to make choices that support good health, and to get involved in managing local health care services. Specific activities include refurbishing and equipping health centres and district hospitals, providing training for local government officials to help them better manage and prioritize health services for mothers and children, and providing training for health workers with a focus on gender equality and public health issues. The project also supports community engagement activities that help local communities become more aware of issues relating to the health of women and children and to gender equality. The project provides community health workers with essential tools for treating women and children and training in home-based life-saving skills, birth planning, the treatment of childhood illnesses, and involving men in supporting the health of women and children in their community. This project is expected to directly help 108,000 pregnant women, 20,000 infants, and 114,000 children under five and indirectly help another 400,000 women and their families. The African Medical and Research Foundation is working in partnership with the Government of Tanzania, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, and local government authorities to implement the project. This project is part of Canada’s maternal, newborn, and child health commitment.
