Friday, September 26, 2014

Mixed reaction from public on draft Constitution

A day after the proposed draft constitution was tabled in Parliament, political analysts, economists, politicians, religious leaders and ordinary citizen have expressed  mixed reactions over the document.
 
While some are in favour of the new proposed Mother Law others are of the opinion that important issues have been left out and that it safeguards only the interests of politicians and not the citizens.
Mwesiga Baregu, Professor in Political Science and International Relations
 
A member of the Constitutional Review Commission that was charged with collecting and compiling public input for the new constitution, Professor in Political Science and International Relations Mwesiga Baregu told The Guardian yesterday that in his opinion, the proposed draft constitution has ignored the people’s views.
 
“The entire constitution review process has been disrupted because most of the issues presented by Warioba’s Commission have been left out in proposed draft constitution,” he alleged.
 
According to Prof Baregu who said the proposed draft constitution lacks political legitimacy because ‘it  excludes the views of wananchi.’
 
He however did not specify what public views had been left out. He went on to point out that the proposed draft has increased the power of the President and this in his view means, the document has sidelined public interests in favour the of the ruling elite.
 
On the other hand, a senior Economics lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam, Dr Haji Semboja said it is not up to the Constituent Assembly to pass the Constitution whether they favour it or not, that power lies in the hands of the people through the referendum, he said.
 
As such, he advised that wananchi be given a chance to review the tabled final draft and decide on it. More specifically he said the public should be given the opportunity to rule on the much deputed structure of the government that saw a large part of the CA (UKAWA) walk out and not return to the House.
 
“It was impossible for the draft constitution tabled by Warioba Commission to be approved without any changes. Constitution is an agreement between wananchi and their government and the people should be given a chance to decide on the structure of the government they would prefer,” he said.
 
Similalry, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) Northern Diocese Bishop Dr Martin Shao expressed doubts as to whether the draft constitution embodies the views of people, this despite religious leaders in the CA recently unanimously saying they were satisfied with the review process and that the resulting document would represent the views of the masses.
 
In his opinion, Dar es Salaam resident Godwin Mollel also shared his concerns that the proposed draft constitution does not represent the people’s views.
“It only assures the interests of rulers for another 50 years forgetting the public,” he claimed.
 
In support of the final draft was a senior lecturer from UDSM department of Political Science Dr Benson Bana who said the proposed draft constitution in line with what was tabled by judge Warioba’s Commission and despite several changes in it, he maintained that the document is just and represents the will of the people.
 
Zanzibar’s Second Vice President Ambassador Seif Ali Iddi said he is satisfied with the document and according to him, it covers almost all the issues that the Isle residents wanted.
 
Speaking to newsmen at parliament grounds yesterday, Ambassador Iddi noted that: “We are happy that most of the things that we were pushing for are included in the final draft.” 
 
“We know it is not easy to have everything we wanted included in the document but we are optimistic that the remaining few will be considered in future,” he said.
 
Tabling the final draft, Chairman of the Drafting Committee, Andrew Chenge said the Constitution has addressed some aggravating issues of the Union by giving Zanzibar more authority to handle her own activities.
 
CA members are expected to start voting on the final draft on Monday, September 29 until on Thursday, October 2
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Stakeholders concerned country lacks airline to support tourism

Lack of a reliable and effective airline to boost Tanzania’s tourism sector is severely affecting performance of the sector that is the second largest contributor to the GDP.
 
Managing Director of the ongoing tourism exhibition dubbed Mpingo Summit in Arusha Region Bakiri Angalia raised the concern earlier this week. 
 
Mpingo Summit 2014
Speaking at the summit, he said the country’s tourism industry is overwhelmed by a number of challenges but the lack of a reliable airline dedicated to the sector’s development is paramount.
 
 “Tourism remains an important pillar to our economic development and so Tanzania needs a reliable carrier to act as a catalyst to the country’s tourism development,” he said.
 
He said the country has many tourist attractions, but the number of tourists visiting them remains considerably low. 
“The only way to bring more tourists to the country is to have a reliable national carrier,” he insisted.
 
 “The national carrier, Air Tanzania Company Limited does not suffice the sector’s need and requires heavy investment to meet the demand,” he lamented.
 
He nonetheless conceded that the national airline, Air Tanzania, continues to work hand in hand with tourism firms to tap the country’s tourism potential but he maintained that more must be done if the sector is to realise its potential.
 
Themed: “Tourism and development in the community” the Mpingo Summit has attracted tourism stakeholders from across the region and elsewhere to discuss the challenges facing tourism in the country.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Cameron: UK must confront IS threat to Britain

The prime minister said it was in the UK's national interest to join the fight against IS, which he warned would "take years not months".
Joining air strikes against IS in Iraq would be "clearly lawful", he insisted.
Parliament is due to vote on UK involvement in US-led attacks on IS positions in Iraq at about 17:00 BST.
London anti-war protestsDowning Street has said a small number of British troops could be sent to Iraq within hours if the Commons backs British military action, but not in a combat role.
The prime minister's official spokesman said they would be used to guide air strikes, in a humanitarian role and, possibly, to train Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces, although this may take place in neighbouring countries.
'Consensus' The government says it would not extend military action in Syria without a Commons vote unless there is an urgent humanitarian need to do so. Downing Street has pointed out that Mr Cameron has pursued a "very deliberate and measured approach" and had been determined "to keep consensus".
The Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Labour all back action in Iraq, which has been requested by the Iraqi government, with Labour leader Ed Miliband insisting IS "cannot and should not be negotiated with".
The government is expected to win the vote comfortably although some MPs expressed concerns after Mr Cameron said he did not rule out similar action in Syria in the future.
In other developments:
IS has seized large parts of Iraq and Syria in recent months. The group, also known as Isis or Isil, has used tactics that have included beheadings of soldiers, Western journalists and aid workers.
Making the case for British action, Mr Cameron said the killing of a British hostage illustrated that the challenge was not "on the far side of the world" and the "brutal, terrorist organisation" was a "clear and proven" threat to UK lives.
"This is not the stuff of fantasy. It is happening in front of us and we need to face up to it," he said.
'Not fantasy' Citing attacks by IS on targets in Europe, and the growing number of foiled terror plots, he said the organisation "already declared war on us and there was no walk on-by option".
David Cameron: Mission against IS in Iraq will take "not just months but years"
Stressing that the UK had "unique assets" to contribute to the military offensive, he added: "It is our duty to take part. It is about protecting people on the streets of Britain."
Addressing concerns from MPs that the UK could be dragged into a long war, Mr Cameron said the use of combat troops would be "wrong" and conceded air strikes would not "roll back" IS alone but must be part of "comprehensive" political and humanitarian plan.
Referring to previous external interventions in Iraq, he added: "This is not 2003 but we should not use past mistakes as an excuse for inaction or indifference."
Failure to act in Iraq will make the situation even worse than the already "catastrophic consequences" of IS's advance there, Ed Miliband warned
Backing Mr Cameron on Iraq, Labour leader Ed Miliband said IS was a "murderous" organisation intent of "more killing" although he urged the endorsement of the United Nations for military intervention.
"There is no graver decision for our Parliament and our country. But protecting our national interest, security and the values for which we stand is why I will be supporting the motion this afternoon."
On Thursday, about 250 people protested outside the gates of Downing Street against the possibility of military action in Iraq.
Some MPs also questioned the objectives behind the military action.
Conservative backbencher Edward Leigh said airstrikes could be seen as "gesture politics", Labour's Denis Skinner warned of "mission creep" while Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said "killing extremists does not kill their ideas".
The government does not have to seek the approval of MPs to commence military action, but it has become customary to do so since this first happened over the Iraq war in 2003.
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Analysis by Jonathan Beale, defence correspondent
Six RAF Tornados in Cyprus have been ready to carry out air strikes for weeks. Their laser-guided bombs and missiles will be loaded and armed soon after Parliament gives the green light.
The Tornados have already been flying reconnaissance missions over Iraq and will have identified potential targets. But some of the obvious ones, like command and control centres, will have already been hit by US war planes which have been launching strikes for the past month.
The focus of their attacks have now switched to Syria itself. So the RAF will also be looking for targets of opportunity - such as IS fighters and vehicles on the move.
The expected intervention of the UK will not be a game-changer. During military intervention against Libya in 2011, the RAF had three times as many war planes involved. But the fight against IS will be more like a marathon than a sprint.
And the longer it goes on, IS will adapt its tactics, and airstrikes will inevitably become less potent.
Middle East map
line
Black market The government's motion specifically rules out any attacks on IS in Syria, following the Commons' rejection of joining in air strikes in that country last year.
Downing Street said UK forces could join the bombing of targets in Iraq after the Iraqi minister of foreign affairs wrote to the United Nations seeking international assistance.
The US began a series of air strikes in Iraq last month, and on Monday it began attacks on targets in Syria.
Jets from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have joined US forces in the attacks, and the US says more than 40 countries have offered to join the anti-IS coalition.
Footage released by the Pentagon shows a strike on the Jeribe refinery in eastern Syria
IS has threatened to kill British hostage Alan Henning, whose wife pleaded for his release on Tuesday.
The threat was made in a video showing the beheading of British aid worker David Haines earlier this month. Also on Tuesday, IS released a second video showing UK journalist John Cantlie.
Meanwhile, in the US, FBI director James Corney says the bureau has identified the man referred to in the British press as "Jihadi John".
BBC security correspondent Gordon Corera said UK security services were frustrated at the FBI comments.
He said UK authorities "may well" have known the suspect's identity for weeks, but they wanted to gather as much intelligence as possible without "tipping their hand as to what they knew".
The suspected militant - whom the FBI is not naming at present - is thought to have appeared in IS beheading videos.
Speaking at the UN in New York on Wednesday evening, Mr Cameron said countries must stop their citizens travelling to join jihadist groups.
These apparently included Ibrahim Kamara, 19, from Brighton, whose mother Khadijah told the BBC her son had been killed in a US air strike in Syria on Monday.
She said her son, who had apparently joined al-Qaeda affiliate group Jabhat al-Nusra, had been "brainwashed".

Friday, June 14, 2013

Tanzania one of E. Africa's fastest growing economies

Tanzania's economy grew by 6.9 per cent last year, the highest among five East African Community member countries.

It was an improvement on the 6.4 per cent growth recorded in 2011.
The region’s biggest economy, Kenya grew at 4.7 per cent up from 2011’s 4.4 per cent.

The figures were revealed yesterday by the Minister of State in the President Office Responsible for Social Relations and Coordination, Stephen Wasira, when tabling in Parliament the state of the economy for 2012 and annual development plan for 2013/14 financial year.

Minister Wasira told the House that while Tanzanian and Kenyan economies were on the rise, those of the rest of the East African Community states were on the decline.

“Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda economic growth rates declined from 8.6 per cent, 4.2 and 6.7 in 2011 to 7.7 per cent, 4.0 and 2.6 in 2012 respectively,” noted Wasira.

Wasira added: “According to analysis, conducted by the Institute of Business Insider of USA, based on World Bank estimates, Tanzania is among the twenty countries with the highest projected compounded annual growth rates from 2013 to 2015”.

He said the EU-economic Commission for Africa report of 2013 shows that Tanzania is among ten fastest growing economies in Africa, recording at least 7 per cent growth in league with Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Ghana and Zambia.
Despite the high performance, the Minister conceded that inflation rose to 16 percent from 12. 7 recorded in 2011.

“This rate of price increase was caused by rising oil prices in the world market and food prices, in part due to growing demand for food in neighbouring countries.

The index of food prices accounted for most of the overall sharp rise of inflation, as food constitutes half of the goods and services in the consumer goods basket used to compute inflation,” the minister said.

Wasira said measures to tame inflation included ensuring sufficient food supply, expanding cultivation of food crops and increasing availability of agricultural inputs, particularly fertilizer, pesticides and improved seeds and enhancing food security by increasing grains purchase through National Food Reserve Agency and construction of more silos.

According to the minister the value of goods and services exported rose by 15.5 per cent from $7,398.2 million in 2011 to $8,544.4 million in 2012, mainly to an increase in traditional exports particularly coffee, cotton and tobacco and increase in the export of manufactured goods, flowers fish and fish products.

The value of the imports and services increased increased by 5.1 per cent from $9,827.5 million in 2011 to $10,324.9 million in 2012, due to importation of capital, intermediate and consumer goods.

Foreign Direct Investment for 2012 was $1,806 million compared to $1,330 million, in 2011, an increase attributed to drilling of more wells for gas, which rose from three in 2011 to ten 2012.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Consultant: Oil, gas tax reforms still awaited

ax experts say the budget estimates presented by the Minister for Finance Dr William Mgimwa yesterday in Dodoma must incorporate significant tax reform proposals affecting key areas of the economy.

Alais Mwasha a registered tax consultant based in Dar es Salaam said for most of people, the expectation is that the minister’s tax reforms proposals will include those affecting the oil and gas sector.

He said considering that Tanzania is still exploring for oil and gas, the minister’s proposals are not expected to be limited to measures affecting the operators only but will extend to key players such as oil and gas service companies.

Some of the awaited reforms include but are not limited to extension of Value Added Tax (VAT) relief on goods and services solely to be used in exploration and production of oil and gas to contractors and Sub contractors.

Currently, the relief is limited to operators who possess licenses on specific blocks as per the terms of the Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) signed with Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) on behalf of the Government of Tanzania.

He said the extension of the relief to service companies provided by the third Schedule to the VAT Act CAP 148 will not only allow flexibility of movement of specialized equipment between licensed operators but will also allow small endogenous players to access the specialized high end technology provided by multinational oil and gas service companies with less cost.

“It is not expected that such reforms will have any revenue impact on the government since the importation by or supply to oil and gas exploration companies, for oil and gas exploration project in Tanzania, are currently relieved from VAT and whatever VAT is paid by the service contractors and sub contractors qualify for refund”, he said.

Service companies are also keen to see more simplified tax regimes to be proposed in 2013/4 tax reforms for ease of operations across the East Africa region.
Introduction of such regimes for service companies will allow smooth operation within the region.

The law imposes assumed profit tax of gross payment to service companies like contractors/subcontracts in which such entities will only pay tax of 30percent or 37.5 percent for subsidiary and branch on 15 percent of gross income received, apart from disbursements such as mobilization and demobilization expenses.

Dr Mgimwa was also expected to propose extension of Duty exemption provided by the legal Notice No. EAC/9/2009 of 2 July 2009 to also cover service companies as most of machinery or inputs used during the exploration phrase are mainly owned by such companies.

The Minister has already listed some of his key budget focus for 2013/4 and long term development plans for the next five years.

One of such focus includes enhancing the concentration in the oil and gas sector. With this motive, it is then inevitable to consider proposal of tax reforms such as the above for smoothening the operation of service companies who are key players during exploration phase.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Budget: Exemptions for review

Aim is to raise more revenue
  Economy set to grow by 7.0 pct
  PAYE slashed to 13 pct, to give relief to workers
Minister for Finance, William Mgimwa
The government has pledged to review tax exemptions which have been costing the nation trillions of shillings, retarding social and economic development.

Tabling the 2013/2014 budget estimates in Dodoma yesterday, the Minister for Finance William Mgimwa said the move was among strategies aimed at raising more revenue.

He said the exemptions would be reviewed with a view to reducing them in order to save the money for other economic activities, he said, adding that Value Added Tax exemption on tourism was being scrapped.

According to one report Tanzania loses revenues between 1.35trn/- ($847 m) and 2.05trn/- ($1.29 bn) per year.

Dr Mgimwa said the government would continue with its efforts to establish one stop centre at the Dar es Salaam port and one stop border posts at Holili, Mutukula, Sirari, Horohoro, Kabanga, Tunduma, Rusumo and Namanga.

He said the government would also build capacity of the workers of Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) to deal with tax evasion by some dishonest companies.

“The government through TRA will establish a new system known as revenue gateway which would become operational on 1st July this year”, he said.

He said the system which included paying tax online, would help to improve collection.

Dr Mgimwa said the government expects to raise a total of 18.249trn/- for expenditure in the next financial year.

The central government revenue is expected to be 11.154trn/-from both tax and non-tax revenue sources.

Local authorities will contribute 383.452bn/- while grants and external loans will bring in 2.693trn/- . Domestic and non-concessional loans will make available a total of 2.982 trn/- .

He said the government plans to spend 5.674 trn/-, equivalent to 35 per cent for development activities and 12.6 trn/-,or 65 per cent of the total budget for recurrent expenditure, which includes 4.763trn/- salaries for government employees, 3.319trn/- for the Consolidated Fund and 4.492trn/- for other charges.

Minister Mgimwa the next government budget would give priority to six areas namely water, energy, transport, agriculture, education and income generation.
During the year 2013/14 the government has set aside 747bn/- to solve water problems in urban and rural areas.

In improving transport infrastructure, he said the government has set aside 2.1trn/- up from 1.9trn/- allocated last year. Out of the money, 196.8bn/- will be spent in improving rail infrastructure.

On energy and mines, he said more efforts will be directed to increase production and distribution of power whereas a total of 1.1trn/- has been set aside for the work.

Dr Mgimwa thanked development partners who have been supporting Tanzania in economic development.

He mentioned them as Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, Hispania, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, United States, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, France, Holland, England, Germany and Swiss.

Others are African Development Bank (AfDB) World Bank, BADEA, Global Funds, OPEC Fund, Saudi Fund, European Union, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and UN agencies.

Mgimwa said this year’s budget has been directed at pushing economic growth which will be 7.0 percent this year and 7.2 percent in 2014.

He said the budget aims to bring down inflation to 6 percent by June next year.
He said the government would make sure that there is enough foreign exchange equivalent to four months imports at any one time.

We will reduce the interest charged on loans and deposits and enhance the value of the shilling.

He further said in the 2013/2014 budget, the government intends to reduce unnecessary spending in various areas, citing seminars, local and foreign travel, purchase of furniture, exhibitions and purchase of motor vehicles.

“We will reduce the number of seminars and workshops while purchase of motor vehicles would be controlled by the office of the Prime Minister”, he noted.
Dr Mgimwa called for increased cooperation, monitoring, management and use of financial resources more efficiently.

“It is my hope that all of us will work hard to improve our economy so as to achieve the Nation’s Development Plans of the year 2015 which aims to move Tanzania from a basket of poor countries. 
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Monday, May 13, 2013

Tanzania not among best places to be a mother

  Ranks 135 in new State of the World's Mothers Report
A mother with her child. (File photo)
Most of us know someone who lost their life giving birth, or who died from pregnancy-related complications.

A friend of mine lost his wife last year while giving birth at the Muhimbili National Hospital. I used to think that in Dar es Salaam, maternal deaths only occurred to women who can not afford to pay for specialised care. Muhimbili hospital offers private services in its fast track unit and this is where my friend’s wife was attending clinic.

I just could not understand how she could die giving birth, given that she was receiving care in the hospital’s private unit with all specialists at her disposal. The couple had chosen Muhimbili given that it is the country’s major hospital and the fact that it also offers private services for those who can afford.

In another incidence, a colleague’s wife escaped death by a whisker after giving birth to her second child at the hospital. She was bleeding heavily and when the nurses who delivered her took her to the theatre, no one was ready to attend to her fearing to be held responsible if she died. A mother had died from excessive bleeding the previous day and people had been taken to task.

“It’s my wife’s surname that saved her. Her cousin used to work at the hospital and when staff in the theatre saw the name, they realised she was related to their former colleague and immediately attended to her. Otherwise she would have died,” says Henry.
Many mothers in Dar es Salaam die during pregnancy and childbirth. One wonders if this is happening in the capital city, how about in remote areas where services are poor?

Save the Children’s 14th annual State of the World’s Mothers report released on Tuesday, which looks at the mothers’ well being ranks Tanzania near the bottom of the list, at 135 out of 176 countries around the globe. The report highlights the challenges facing mothers and newborns worldwide.

The Mothers’ Index shows countries that are succeeding and those failing in their support to mothers. It assesses mothers’ well-being using indicators of maternal health, child mortality, education and levels of women’s income and political status.

Every year 454 women die from pregnancy related complications for every 100,000 live births in Tanzania. This translates to close to 8,000 women dying every year. And they die from conditions that could be prevented or treated.

Causes of maternal deaths in Tanzania include excessive bleeding, unsafe abortions, eclampsia, obstructed labour and infections. Low availability of emergency obstetric and new born care services, chronic shortage of skilled health providers together with a weak referral system contribute to the high maternal deaths.

According to Population Reference Bureau (PRB)’s 2011 ‘World’s Women and Girls’ data sheet, the lifetime chance of dying from maternal causes in Tanzania is one in 23.

Healthcare quality
According to Unicef, maternal deaths in Tanzania are caused by poor quality of care due to an insufficient number of skilled health workers and lack of basic equipment, as well as long distances from home to health care facilities.

Between 2004 and 2010, 24 per cent of mothers did not access health services due to lack of money to pay for the services while 19 per cent did not access care due to long distance to a health facility.

These two factors led to 48 per cent of all deliveries that occurred between 2005 and 2010 to take place at home.

Over half (65 per cent) of mothers did not receive postnatal check up and only 31 per cent were examined within two days as recommended. Most of those who did not receive postnatal services (76 per cent) came from poor families.

Women living in rural areas, those who come from the poorest families and those who are less educated, have the least access to skilled attendance at delivery, according to Unicef. Women who start having children in adolescence tend to have more children and shorter spacing between pregnancies – all of which are risk factors for maternal and neonatal mortality. The neonatal mortality rate is highest among mothers under-20 years of age at 45 per 1000 live births compared with 29 per 1000 for mothers aged 20 to 29 years.

According to Save the Children’s report, the Democratic Republic of Congo is the world’s toughest place to be a mother and Finland the best.

The Nordic countries sweep the top spots while, for the first time, countries in sub-Saharan Africa take up each of the bottom ten places in the annual list.

The top five countries in the global mothers’ ranking are: Finland, Sweden, Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands. The bottom five (in descending order) are: Niger, Mali, Sierra Leone, Somalia and the DRC.

According to Save the Children, the startling disparities between mothers in the developed and developing world are summed up around maternal risk. A woman or girl in DRC has a one in 30 chance of dying from maternal causes – including childbirth – but in Finland the risk is one in 12,200. In DRC, which performs poorly across all indicators, girls are likely to be educated for eight and a half years compared to Finland, where girls can expect to receive over sixteen years of education.

“By investing in mothers and children, nations are investing in their future prosperity. If women are educated, are represented politically, and have access to good quality maternal and child care, then they and their children are much more likely to survive and thrive – and so are the societies they live in. Huge progress has been made across the developing world, but much more can be done to save and improve millions of the poorest mothers and newborns’ lives,” says Save the Children.

Child deaths
The Birth Day Risk Index, also contained in Save the Children's report, compares first-day death rates for babies in 186 countries. One million babies die each year on the day they enter the world, – or two every minute – making the first day by far the riskiest day of a person’s life in almost every country in the world.

This is despite the low-cost interventions that are available to tackle the high rate of baby deaths on the first day of life. Sub-Saharan Africa remains by far the most dangerous region to be born – with the deaths of newborns actually increasing in the past few decades. Here, babies are more than seven times as likely to die on the day they are born as babies born in industrialised countries. A baby in Somalia, the most dangerous country, is 40 times more likely to die on its first day than a child born in Luxembourg, the safest.

According to the report, two thirds of all newborn deaths occur in just 10 countries: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, China, DR Congo, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Tanzania.

Infant mortality rate in Tanzania stands at 51 deaths per 1000 live births and neonatal mortality at 26 deaths per 1,000 live births. Neonatal deaths are inextricably linked to the health of the mother during pregnancy and to the conditions of delivery and newborn care.

Throughout sub-Saharan Africa, according to Save the Children, the poor health of mothers, where between 10 – 20 per cent are underweight, contributes to high rates of death for babies, as does the number of young mothers, giving birth before their bodies have matured. Other factors are low use of contraception, poor access to decent healthcare when pregnant and a severe shortage of health-workers.

Speaking of contraception use, 22 per cent of women who need to control birth in Tanzania do not have access to the service. By meeting this need, it is estimated that 1.4 million unintended pregnancies, 1 million abortions, 18,000 maternal deaths and 500,000 child deaths can be prevented if access to family planning is granted.

According to Health and Development Tanzania, allocations of funds for family planning services in Tanzania have not been meeting the estimated annual needs for the service. Releases of the funds have also been low and irregular hence affecting the provision of the service.

The solution
Save the Children’s report identifies four lifesaving products that can be used universally: corticosteroid injections to women in preterm labour to reduce deaths caused by newborns’ breathing problems; resuscitation devices to save babies who do not breathe at birth; chlorhexidine cord cleansing to prevent umbilical cord infections and injectable antibiotics to treat newborn sepsis and pneumonia.

Save the Children calls on world leaders to strengthen health systems so mothers have greater access to skilled birth attendants. They can provide lifesaving interventions to all mothers and children, in addition to providing more funding for maternal, newborn and child health programmes. More should be invested in frontline healthcare workers and community health workers to reach the most vulnerable mothers and babies.

The organization suggests fighting the underlying causes of newborn mortality, especially gender inequality and malnutrition. Helping mothers become strong and stable – physically, financially and socially – make their children stronger and more likely to survive and thrive.

Countries are also advised to invest in low-cost solutions that can dramatically reduce newborn mortality. Proper cord care and newborn/paediatric doses of antibiotics can prevent and treat simple but deadly infections. Exclusive breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact (known as “kangaroo mother care”) should be encouraged.

Such practices cost very little but can save hundreds of thousands of babies’ lives each year. Additionally, birth attendants should be trained and given proper support and supplies.  
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN