TANZANIA – The United Republic of Tanzania has partnered with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Vodafone Foundation to expand a maternal health emergency transportation system in the country.
Under the signed agreement, Tanzania is set to receive US$10 million from the Vodafone Foundation, while USAID has committed to providing US$5 million towards the cause.
“In direct response to Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s request for partnership in expanding this program to the entire country, USAID and the Vodafone Foundation committed US$15 million,” the agency said.
During USAID’s “Democracy Delivers” event on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, all parties involved in the signed agreement committed to expanding a maternal health emergency transportation system that is securing hospital transit for thousands of women in Tanzania.
The maternal health emergency transportation system dubbed M-mama was conceived by Vodafone Foundation in response to a request from USAID for a programme to help reduce rural maternal deaths.
In addition, the Touch Foundation and Pathfinder International were selected as implementation partners to help develop and deliver the m-mama service.
The agency said in an official statement that the Government of Tanzania, represented at the event by Vice President Philip Mpango, has committed to covering all transport costs and providing all dispatch staff from day one.
“Vodafone Foundation committed an additional US$5 million to replicate this model in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa with high rates of maternal mortality, bringing its total commitment to US$15 million,” USAID highlighted.
According to the bureau, the concerted efforts will extend the maternal health program’s coverage from two districts, which are home to about 1 million people, to Tanzania’s population of 60 million.
USAID will also explore additional partnership opportunities with Vodafone Foundation to reproduce Tanzania’s successes elsewhere.
Furthermore, USAID and Vodafone Foundation created a free ride-sharing program for pregnant women as part of a 2013-2020 maternal health program in two Tanzanian districts namely Sengerema/Buchosa and Shinyanga districts.
“Under the program, a woman undergoing a maternal emergency calls a toll-free number, a health worker records her information, the dispatch system locates the nearest hospital and nearest private taxi driver, and the driver is paid upon delivery of the patient to the health center,” the agency said.
USAID disclosed that the local governments in both pilot districts are now fully funding the programs, which cost less than the price of one ambulance, and the programs have transported over 15,000 women and newborns to date.
Furthermore, M-mama services will be available across all of Lesotho by March next year since USAID and Vodafone Foundation have plans already underway to extend the m-mama maternal health emergency programme to new territories
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