These are the obstacles to healthcare access for all

Dar es Salaam. Health sector stakeholders yesterday noted that one of the obstacles in accessing healthcare for all was lack of resources to help people with disabilities obtain the right to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in society.

They said that people with disabilities require information and tools on sexual and reproductive health in order to make healthy choices and prevent illnesses so they, too, can lead full lives. However, SRHR continues to be contested or not prioritised by health systems.

Most health care centres, they said, did not have basic needs for the disabled such as sign language interpreters for people who are deaf, providing alternate formats for written materials among others.

As part of the preparations for the ninth Tanzania Health Summit which will bring together the government, the private sector and businessmen from October 11 to 13 in Dar es Salaam, stakeholders met to discuss some of the challenges that will need to be discussed in depth in stimulating access to health services for all in the country.

Speaking yesterday exclusively with The Citizen, Mr Pius Kagoma, a quality improvement coordinator in the President’s Office-Regional Administration and Local Government, said the statistics they will collect and those they already have would help solve the challenges that still beset the health sector.

“The President has done her part, by building many health centres, now through this summit we are going to work to ensure that universal health coverage is fulfilled,” he said.

Earlier, EngenderHealth Tanzania, which has been involved in helping the most vulnerable and at-risk populations—particularly young people and persons living with disabilities -- revealed that people with disabilities were still being left behind.

“The unique needs of people with disabilities influence their choices and eligibility for SRH services, especially some family planning methods. However, available national HMIS tools don’t capture information on this group and targeted efforts are required to address this gap,” said Mr Nasibu Mwanamsangu, who is the Monitoring and Evaluation Associate at EngenderHealth.

He said that as an organization that implements various projects including sexual and reproductive health education for people with disabilities, sexual violence among others, it will give an image of the current situation and the way they have been doing it and succeeded in closing the gap.

Its five-year integrated and inclusive family planning programme implemented in 600 health facilities across 13 regions in Tanzania and the entire Zanzibar has proved the need for the group to be considered as part of the society.

“The programme conducts training to service providers on how to offer SRH and also makes community sensitisation to enlighten it that SRH services is the right of everyone regardless of their gender, age or disability,” Mr Mwanamsangu noted.

According to available data, in Mainland Tanzania the prevalence of disability stands at 6.8 percent (5.7 percent male; 7.8 percent female) while in Zanzibar this figure is 3.2 percent (3.3 percent male; 4.1 percent female).

This prevalence rate is below the World Health Organisation (WHO) global average and could be due to under reporting or stigma related to disability-with the rates being higher in rural than in urban areas.

For his part, Dr Abiud Mfugare, one of the beneficiaries of the project said that the summit would make the society realize that people with disabilities should and do have a right to be treated with dignity and be provided with sexual and reproductive health resources in a format or manner that works for the individual.