DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania, October 28 (IPS) – When COVID-19 hit Tanzania in 2020, Alfred Kisena’s life was torn aside. The 51-year-old trainer nonetheless remembers the evening he realized that his spouse, Maria, had succumbed to the virus at a hospital in Dar es Salaam. He wasn’t allowed to see her in her remaining moments.
“The medical doctors mentioned it was too harmful, and the virus was contagious,” Kisena mentioned, gazing at a pale photograph of her hanging on the wall.
Maria’s burial happened in eerie isolation. Municipal employees wearing white protecting gear lowered her physique right into a tomb at Ununio Cemetery on town’s outskirts.
“Saying goodbye to a liked one is sacred, however I didn’t get an opportunity,” he mentioned.
Throughout Tanzania, many households endured the identical ache—dropping family members and being denied the rituals that give that means to loss. The federal government imposed strict measures: banning gatherings, limiting hospital visits, and prohibiting conventional burial rites. Faculties shut down, and for 3 months, Kisena’s 5 youngsters stayed residence, their schooling abruptly halted.
“I used to be not working, so it was onerous to satisfy the wants of my household,” he mentioned. “We survived on the little financial savings I had.”
5 years later, because the scars of that disaster linger, Tanzania is charting a brand new path towards resilience. Earlier this month, the federal government launched its first-ever Pandemic Fund Challenge, aimed toward strengthening the nation’s capability to forestall and reply to well being crises.
Supported by a USD25 million grant from the worldwide Pandemic Fund and USD13.7 million in co-financing, the initiative marks a shift from reactive disaster administration to proactive preparedness. It unites native and worldwide companions—together with WHO, UNICEF, and FAO—beneath a “One Well being” framework that acknowledges the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental well being.
Studying from the Previous
The reminiscences of COVID-19 and the more moderen Marburg outbreak stay vivid. When the pandemic first struck, Tanzania’s laboratories have been under-equipped, surveillance programs have been weak, and group well being employees have been overwhelmed.
Tanzania’s Deputy Prime Minister, Doto Biteko, mentioned in the course of the launch that the teachings from these crises formed the nation’s new willpower.
“For the previous 20 years, the world has battled a number of well being emergencies, and Tanzania is not any exception,” he mentioned. “We have now seen how pandemics disrupt lives and economies. Strengthening our capability to organize and reply shouldn’t be non-obligatory—it’s a necessity.”
That necessity has solely grown as Tanzania faces rising dangers of zoonotic illnesses linked to deforestation, wildlife commerce, and local weather change. The brand new venture goals to handle these vulnerabilities by upgrading laboratories, increasing illness surveillance, and coaching well being employees throughout the nation.
The Human Frontlines
In southern Kisarawe District, 38-year-old group well being employee Ana Msechu walks alongside dusty roads with a backpack containing medication, gloves, and well being information.
“Generally I stroll for 3 hours simply to succeed in one household,” Msechu mentioned. “In the course of the pandemic, folks stopped trusting us. They thought we have been bringing the illness.”
With no protecting gear or transport allowance, Msechu confronted villagers’ suspicion head-on. On the top of the pandemic, she misplaced a colleague to the virus. But she continued, delivering messages about hygiene and vaccination.
“Generally we didn’t even have masks—we used items of material as a substitute,” she recalled.
The brand new initiative, she believes, may change that. Implementing companions plan to produce private protecting tools (PPE), digital instruments for information assortment, and common coaching periods.
“If we get correct assist and respect, we are able to save many lives earlier than illnesses unfold,” she mentioned.
“Neighborhood well being employees are the spine of resilience,” mentioned Patricia Safi Lombo, UNICEF’s Deputy Consultant to Tanzania. “They’re the primary level of contact for households and play a vital position in delivering life-saving data and providers.”
UNICEF’s position will concentrate on danger communication and group engagement—making certain that folks in rural and concrete areas perceive preventive measures, acknowledge early signs, and belief the well being system.
Between Concern and Responsibility
Hamisi Mjema, a well being volunteer in Kilosa District, remembers how concern turned his greatest enemy.
When the Marburg virus hit final 12 months, his job was to hint suspected circumstances and educate households about isolation.
“I used to be insulted many occasions, and a few households wouldn’t even let me into their houses,” he mentioned.
With out transport or communication instruments, Hamisi walked from one distant village to a different along with his bicycle, usually counting on farmers to share their telephone airtime so he may report circumstances to district well being officers.
Underneath the brand new initiative, native well being officers say group well being employees will obtain discipline kits, digital disease-reporting instruments, and danger communication supplies in native languages.
“It should make our work safer and quicker,” he mentioned. “After we detect one thing early, the entire nation advantages.”
Preventing Misinformation
In a lakeside village in Kigoma, volunteer well being educator Fatuma Mfaume recollects how rumors as soon as unfold quicker than the virus itself.
“Individuals have been afraid,” she mentioned. “They mentioned vaccines would make girls barren. Others believed medical doctors have been poisoning us.”
Armed with a megaphone, Mfaume moved by way of villages making an attempt to dispel falsehoods—usually going through insults. However her persistence paid off. Slowly, girls started bringing their youngsters for immunization once more.
With the brand new venture, she hopes group employees like her will acquire formal recognition and coaching in communication abilities.
“Many people work with out pay,” Mfaume mentioned. “If this venture can practice us correctly and provides us supplies, we are able to combat not simply illness however concern and lies too.”
Animal-Borne Threats
On the similar time, the Meals and Agriculture Group (FAO) is strengthening animal well being programs, recognizing that the majority pandemics originate from animals.
“By enhancing coordination between veterinary and public well being providers, Tanzania is taking very important steps to forestall zoonotic illnesses earlier than they spill over to people,” mentioned Stella Kiambi, FAO’s Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Ailments Staff Lead.
These measures embrace upgrading veterinary laboratories, enhancing illness surveillance in livestock markets, and coaching discipline officers to detect early indicators of outbreaks.
The World Well being Group (WHO) can also be supporting efforts to strengthen human well being programs—from increasing testing capability to creating fast response groups.
“This venture marks a daring step ahead in well being safety,” mentioned Dr. Galbert Fedjo, WHO Well being Methods Coordinator. “It advances a One Well being strategy that hyperlinks human, animal, and environmental well being.”
Rebuilding Belief and Hope
For Priya Basu, Government Head of the Pandemic Fund, Tanzania’s venture represents “an necessary step in strengthening the nation’s preparedness to forestall and reply to future well being threats.”
Throughout Africa, the Fund—established in 2022—has supported 47 initiatives in 75 nations with USD 885 million in grants, catalyzing greater than USD 6 billion in extra financing.
In accordance with the World Financial institution, each USD 1 invested in pandemic preparedness can save as much as USD 20 in financial losses throughout an outbreak.
For Tanzania—a nation that misplaced hundreds of lives and suffered deep financial shocks throughout COVID-19—the stakes couldn’t be increased.
“Preparedness is about saving lives and livelihoods,” mentioned Dr. Ali Mzige, a public well being knowledgeable. “It’s about ensuring households don’t endure when a pandemic strikes.”
For Kisena, the federal government’s new initiative is a quiet promise that the teachings of loss haven’t been forgotten.
“Maria’s dying taught me how valuable life is,” he mentioned. “If this venture can defend even one household from that form of ache, then it can imply her dying was not in useless.
IPS UN Bureau Report
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