Marie Stopes Tanzania

A continuing high rate of population growth is hindering Tanzania's social and economic development. Like other sub-Saharan African countries, Tanzania needs additional investment to achieve more rapid improvement

In 2016 the national contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) stood at only 34.4%. That very same year the Government of Tanzania committed to increase the modern CPR to 45% by 2020. 

What does this mean for the women of Tanzania? Each year one million women have an unintended pregnancy, of which 39% end in abortion. Due to a highly restrictive and ambiguous abortion law, the vast majority of these abortions are unsafe procedures, putting women's health and lives at risk.

Recognising unsafe abortion as a major cause of maternal death in the country, the Tanzanian government has expanded the availability of post-abortion care over the past decade. However, significant gaps still exist and most women do not receive the care they need.

What we do in Tanzania

Marie Stopes Tanzania is the country’s largest specialised sexual and reproductive health and family planning organisation, established in 1989.

We deliver approximately 33% of contraception in Tanzania, and focus on reaching under-served women who are predominantly young, living in poverty, residing in hard-to-reach rural locations and urban slums - or a combination of all three.

We also support the government of Tanzania on development of various policies and guidelines related to family planning and reproductive health services. By using our expertise and research we are able to provide technical assistance to national health strategies, which affect the lives of millions of women in the country.

How we reach our clients

We deliver services through a range of channels, helping us to reach women in different settings:

• 60 mobile outreach teams serve clients in remote rural areas in every region of Tanzania.
   
• Bajaji mobile outreach teams – nurses in auto-rickshaws – deliver sexual and reproductive health services  to the young, migrant clients in peri-urban and urban slum areas.
  
  
• A network of 11 clinics situated in urban areas act as centres of excellence and training centres, but also offer a wide range of sexual and reproductive health and family planning services.
  
  
• We provide the necessary equipment and training for contraception, post-abortion care and gender based violence to staff in public health facilities, which helps to ensure continuity of services in the public sector and that women can access high-quality services. By 2019 we expect to train 700 public and private service providers in contraception and post-abortion care, and 450 service providers on how to provide medical care to gender based violence survivors.
  
  
• Their Facebook page - 'Chagua Maisha – Good Life'.

Reaching young people

Young people aged 25 and under account for 63% of the population in Tanzania. They face unique barriers when trying to receive information and access to contraception.

Delaying having children has profound health benefits and enables young women to set themselves up for the future by completing their education, who otherwise face expulsion from school if they fall pregnant.

We are continuously developing new ways to reach young people with information and services about sexual and reproductive health care:

• The ‘Chagua Maisha – Good Life’ campaign is redefining the concept of contraception in the country; from being something used to ‘plan one’s family’ to being a tool for young people to use in order to get their lives and their careers off to the best possible start.
   
• Linking our youth-friendly services with community based organisations in the districts with high teenage pregnancy rates.
   
• Delivering contraception services to higher learning and public facilities in peri-urban and urban areas using auto-rickshaws.
   
• Continue exploring cost barriers and new ways to refer young people to service delivery points free of charge.
  
  
• Two-day outreach model where outreach teams spend an extra day at each site in order to offer a day specifically designated for young clients. This not only enables an entire day for youth-focused demand generation activities, but also means that young people know there is a date when they can come for voluntary contraception services without being conspicuous to neighbours and relatives from older generations.