Key Considerations for Improving Maternal and Newborn Health in Tanzania

Government policies and national programs have prioritized maternal healthcare in Tanzania, however, maternal health outcomes remain poor. While there has been some improvement in maternal health service utilization over the past decade, the maternal mortality rate has stagnated. HP+ explored financial and non-financial barriers to access to maternal and newborn healthcare as well as high out-of-pocket expenses and the cost of fully subsidizing a defined package of key maternal and neonatal health interventions for poor pregnant women in Tanzania.

Maternal Health Services in Tanzania: Determinants of Use and Related Financial Barriers from 2015-16 Survey Data
This policy note systematically examines the influence of various factors on use of antenatal care, facility-based birth, and postnatal care services in Tanzania, using data from the 2015-16 Demographic and Health Survey. The results of this analysis, based on survey data, indicate that financial barriers are not a significant influence on the use of most of these services, whereas insurance status is significantly associated with facility-based birth. Insurance coverage in rural Tanzania is very low, and these results indicate the structural factors must be considered in designing appropriate health financing interventions that aim to increase access to maternal and newborn healthcare. In addition, the analysis explores factors that determine whether a Tanzanian woman pays out-of-pocket for maternal healthcare services—and the magnitude of such payments—and provides projected total payments for 2018–2022.

Financial Implications of Paying for Maternal and Neonatal Healthcare Services for Vulnerable Populations in Tanzania
A companion brief presents several scenarios to estimate the current annual costs of fully subsidizing maternal health services for poor women. This analysis answers three key questions: How many women should be covered? What is the approximate cost per woman of covering key maternal health services? and What is the total cost of covering the poor population now, and how might it change in the near future? The analysis shows that expanding coverage of a fully-subsidized package of maternal and neonatal health services is feasible in Tanzania given current resources, assuming they are properly targeted. These findings are discussed within the current policy context as Tanzania looks to expand coverage of key maternal health services for the poor through insurance-type schemes.

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