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Zanzibar tests new financing model to improve antenatal care

3 mins read

Zanzibar tests new financing model to improve antenatal care

Habari za Dharura

October 24, 2026 Admin0

Dar es Salaam. Zanzibar is testing a health financing model that uses targeted funding and digital tracking to keep poor and high-risk pregnant women in care as the government works towards a more sustainable health financing system.

The Zanzibar Health Services Fund (ZHSF) Mothers Care model is designed to ensure limited resources follow vulnerable women through pregnancy, delivery and the postnatal period, rather than focusing only on increasing healthcare spending.

The approach was discussed at the 13th Tanzania Health Summit, which ended on Wednesday in Dar es Salaam, where health financing and digital health experts reviewed early lessons from the programme.

The initiative comes as Tanzania makes progress in reducing maternal deaths but continues to face challenges in ensuring women receive timely and quality care throughout pregnancy.

The World Health Organisation says Tanzania’s maternal mortality ratio fell from 556 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015/16 to 104 in 2022. Skilled birth attendance also increased from 66 percent to 85 percent.

However, the country remains above the global target of fewer than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.

In Zanzibar, the 2022 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey found that 98.9 percent of pregnant women attended at least one antenatal visit, while 79.4 percent completed at least four visits.

WHO health financing expert, Regina Ndakidemi, said the Mothers Care experience should help the government establish a clear mechanism for financing care for vulnerable women.

“If we have a clear path, projects like this one can be well embedded in our path because the government will come and say these are my priorities and within this path I will reduce maternal deaths,” she said.

PharmAccess Zanzibar Interim Programme Director, Jonia Swakea, said the next step was to develop a maternal-care package covering a woman’s entire pregnancy journey.

“Having a customised maternal care package covering the maternal care journey will help in meeting pregnant women’s needs well,” she said.

According to PharmAccess, about 2,200 women had enrolled in Kaskazini B and Micheweni districts by 2025, with the proportion attending four or more antenatal visits rising from 15 percent to 52 percent among participating women.

The programme combines financing, digital tracking and quality improvement, allowing health authorities and providers to identify missed appointments and gaps in care.

Dr Swakea said the evidence could support government-financed coverage of vulnerable women through the Health Equity Fund.

However, Sanofi Health Unit Medical Doctor-Global Lead Joseph Muga cautioned that additional funding alone would not resolve weaknesses in healthcare delivery.

“Finances are not the only problem. We need to get our minds away from thinking that we do not have money, therefore we cannot do anything,” he said.

He called for better planning, reduced wastage, improved coordination, reliable medicine supplies and greater use of health data.

The programme, jointly financed by PharmAccess and the Zanzibar Ministry of Health, began in May 2024 and targets 5,000 pregnant women from poor households over two years.

The key test now is whether the model can move from a time-bound intervention into a sustainable government-financed system.

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