Poverty and Human Development Report 2009 - UNDP in Tanzania

Access to Healthcare Services
On the demand side, improved health outcomes are dependent on effective access to quality
health services. On the supply side, health facilities must have sufficient skilled health workers
and adequate infrastructure, utilities, and medical equipment and supplies to deliver quality
care. The following sections, therefore, present recent data on utilisation and staffing of health
services.
Utilisation
The Household Budget Surveys in 2000/01 and 2007 collected data on healthcare consultations
of survey participants. This permits a national estimate of recent changes in overall (curative)
healthcare utilisation and the workload of the government healthcare system.
Data indicate no changes in self-reported morbidity or in the frequency that Tanzanians consult
a healthcare provider when ill. However, government facilities accounted for a higher share of
healthcare consultations in 2007 than in 2000/1, while consultations at mission facilities and with
private doctors diminished. Findings indicate a modest (11%) increase in per capita (curative)
healthcare consultations at government clinics (Table 15)
There was no significant difference between males and females in the likelihood of seeking
healthcare when ill. However, the proportion who sought care in urban areas (75.8%) was nearly
ten percentage points higher than in rural areas (66.5%), a disparity that has remained more or
less unchanged since 2000/01.
Factoring in population growth in the intervening years, the gross number of healthcare
consultations at government clinics has increased by 27% from around 44 million per year to
over 55 million per year between 2000/01 and 2007.
Table 15: Percentage of Population Reporting Illness or Injury and Healthcare
Consultation, 2000/01 and 2007
Illness or Injury and Healthcare Consultation 2000/01 2007
Ill or injured in previous 4 weeks 27% 26%
Consulted any healthcare provider 69% 69%
Ill/injured and consulted a healthcare provider 19% 18%
Percentage of respondents who consulted with any healthcare
provider who did so at Government health facilities 54% 63%
Implied consultations per capita per year with any provider 2.42 2.31
Implied consultation per capita per year with Government provider 1.31 1.45
Gross consultations per year with Government provider, millions 43.98 55.70
Source: Calculations by P. Smithson based on HBS 2007 data
CLUSTER II- GOAL 2
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