Tanzania is home to roughly 37 million people, most of who live in rural areas with limited health care options.  In some parts of the country, a single hospital serves as many as 350,000 people, and the ratio of doctors to inhabitants is 1:20,000.  Even among those who can afford it, health care can be seen as a luxury.  Since 1982, EngenderHealth has been a partner with Tanzania’s Ministry of Health and other local groups to make lasting improvements in the quality and availability of reproductive health care services.  Initially, EngenderHealth’s efforts focused specifically on increasing access to family planning at 35 sites.  Today, our programs reach more than 120 sites, and encompass:

• Expanding contraceptive options
• Increasing access to postabortion care services
• Engaging Men as Partners
• Fistula prevention and treatment
• Prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV

 
Expanding Contraceptive Options
Through the ACQUIRE Project, funded by USAID, EngenderHealth works to advance the availability, quality, and use of reproductive health and family planning services throughout the country. Efforts include:

• Providing long-term and permanent methods of contraception—such as sterilization, Norplant®, and intrauterine devices (IUDs)—as well as a range of other contraceptive methods, such as pills, condoms, and injectables.
• Introducing COPE® and facilitative supervision—two quality improvement tools that help health care staff identify and resolve problems on their own.
• Implementing a communications campaign throughout the country to increase awareness of vasectomy and other long-acting and permanent contraceptive methods.

 
Increasing Access to Postabortion Care Services
To ensure that women have access to postabortion care, EngenderHealth trains doctors and midwives at local clinics to provide comprehensive postabortion care services, including counseling, referral, and infection prevention. This includes decentralizing postabortion care services so that women can receive treatment at health centers and local dispensaries, not just at regional hospitals. 

In addition, EngenderHealth advocates for the integration of postabortion care into routine maternal care services.

 
Engaging Men as Partners
EngenderHealth leads an innovative five-year initiative, called the CHAMPION Project, to increase men’s involvement in preventing the spread of HIV in Tanzania. CHAMPION, funded by USAID, takes a holistic approach to HIV prevention and addresses the underlying gender issues that drive HIV transmission.

EngenderHealth also addresses male gender norms and related behaviors that contribute to increased risk for HIV infection in Tanzania through an initiative funded by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). EngenderHealth, through the ACQUIRE Project, advocates at the national level for greater attention to male gender norms and provides training and assistance to local PEPFAR partners to integrate male engagement approaches in their programs.