Ministry of Health of Tanzania intends to introduce stepwise certification system based on SafeCare

In the budget speech for 2012-2013 the Tanzania Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW) has expressed the intention to implement a stepwise certification system based on the SafeCare methodology to improve the standards of health care in the country. SafeCare acts as the custodian of internationally recognized and unique sets of standards that are realistic for resource-restricted settings while not compromising on quality levels.

In paragraph 236, the Budget Speech states that “the MOHSW will develop a five year strategic plan (2012 -2017) that will aim at assuring that efforts to improve of quality of health services are integrated and focused. The Ministry will start initial preparations for implementing a system for stepwise certification towards official accreditation. The Ministry will also review national guidelines, communication strategy and standards for infection prevention including the national guidelines for training, inspection and recognition of quality health services.”

When the plan is approved SafeCare will be providing the Ministry technical assistance on their quality improvement methodology. In addition, a proposal is under development to introduce SafeCare methodology to the health insurance scheme of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) in Tanzania.

These developments are in line with the objective of SafeCare to help build the capacity within existing (national) programs to implement and measure healthcare quality improvement that eventually can lead to independent accreditation.

In Tanzania, the SafeCare program has further been introduced in the over 60 clinics operating in the Medical Credit Fund and Health Insurance Fund program.  Since March 2012, the over 172 clinics of the armed forces (TPDF/TPPI) that have been supervised by PharmAccess under a PEPFAR/USAID agreement are enrolled in SafeCare’s quality improvement program as well.