Tanzania and the US Sign USD 3.1 Billion Five-Year MOU to Strengthen the Healthcare System

Tanzania and the United States have signed a five-year health cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth USD 3.1 billion aimed at strengthening Tanzania’s healthcare system, improving infectious disease prevention and surveillance, expanding digital health infrastructure, and enhancing the long-term sustainability of the country’s health sector.

The MoU was signed in Dar es Salaam by representatives of the Government of the United States and the Government of Tanzania in the presence of U.S. Acting Chargé d’Affaires Jeanne Clark and Tanzania’s Minister of Health, Mohammed Mchengerwa.

The agreement combines a commitment by the Government of Tanzania to invest more than USD 1.8 billion in its health system over the next five years with an intended contribution of more than USD 1.3 billion from the United States Government, subject to appropriations by the U.S. Congress.

According to the U.S. Embassy, the partnership is intended to strengthen Tanzania’s capacity to finance, manage and sustain essential health services while improving preparedness and response to infectious diseases and other public health emergencies.

The agreement is implemented under the Trump Administration’s America First Global Health Strategy, which focuses on strengthening partner countries’ capacity to prevent, detect and respond to infectious diseases while protecting global health security.

Under the agreement, Tanzania and the United States will cooperate to strengthen health systems, improve digital health infrastructure, expand disease surveillance and reinforce health security.

The partnership also supports Tanzania’s efforts to establish an integrated national digital health system covering five priority areas: clinical services, health financing and health insurance, supply chains, public health and disease surveillance, and citizen services.

Jeanne Clark, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires to Tanzania, said the agreement marks a new five-year chapter in the longstanding health partnership between the two countries.

“By investing together, we are strengthening Tanzania’s ability to prevent, detect and rapidly respond to health threats while building sustainable and self-reliant systems capable of delivering quality healthcare for future generations,” Clark said.

She added that stronger health security in Tanzania helps protect both Tanzanians and Americans by containing disease outbreaks at their source before they spread internationally.

Minister of Health Mohammed Mchengerwa described the agreement as an important step towards increasing national ownership and ensuring the long-term sustainability of Tanzania’s health system.

“This Memorandum of Understanding demonstrates the Government of Tanzania’s commitment to investing in the health and well-being of our people,” Mchengerwa said.

“Our joint investment will strengthen health infrastructure, expand the health workforce, improve disease surveillance and accelerate the development of modern laboratory systems and digital health. We value the continued partnership with the United States as Tanzania builds a stronger, more resilient and self-reliant health system,” he added.

The agreement also provides for the establishment and operationalisation of the Tanzania National Public Health Institute at national and subnational levels, strengthening the capacity of Tanzanian health research institutions to conduct clinical research, and supporting malaria elimination efforts in Zanzibar.

In addition, it aims to develop an integrated laboratory network capable of sharing information across different levels of the health system while meeting the internationally recognised 7-1-7 outbreak detection and response framework, under which suspected outbreaks should be detected within seven days, reported to public health authorities within one day, and effectively responded to within seven days.