CPHEB Seminar Josephat Itika

"Socio Economic Transformation for Competitiveness in Tanzania. The Role of the Health Sector";

Presenter: Josephat Itika from Mzumbe University (Tanzania);

Abstract: With an exception of the developed countries, the determination of the role of the health sector in socio economic development has been an area of less research in developing countries including Africa and even much so in Tanzania. The main challenge has been methodological and resources required to collect scientific data capable of quantitatively correlate the investment in the health sector, the improvement of quality of life, labour productivity and gross domestic product. As a result, most studies have taken it as a matter of logic that if the health sector is improved, the health of the people will equally improve which is a key factor in the improvement of labour productivity in all sectors and ultimately attainment of development goals. Tanzania Development Vision 2025 which focussed on becoming a middle-income country amongst other sectors, used a number of policies and strategies to strengthen the health sector in order to ensure high quality of life of the people. It was projected that for Tanzania to reach the level of development envisaged for middle income countries, among other things, better health through more access, quality and affordability ought to be improved significantly. The 2020, World Bank study categorised Tanzania as a lower middle-income country (LMIC) after achieving economic and human development indicators consistent with a middle-income status. The paper provides an overview of the strategies that have been deployed by the government for the past 10 years and not only possible contribution to the attainment of the country’s middle-income status but also attainment of full middle income country by 2025.