The Goverment Has Asked to Borrow Leaf From CHF in Planned UHI

The government has been advised to learn from the successes of the Community Health fund (CHF) under the Health Promotion and System Strengthening (HPSS) Tuimarishe Afya Project in its plan to facilitate proper implementation of the Universal Health Insurance (UHI).

Speaking at the Tanzania Health Summit (THS) Dr Francis Lutalala, CHF coordinator in Dodoma region said CHF has helped those in the informal sector to access health services at an affordable price.

He said some of the advantages of the CHF were that registration was done digitally in a sense that a holder was easily recognised, especially when bills are brought forward.

“The holders of the card were paying less than 30,000/- but also they were able to access services even when they moved out of their residential places,”

he said.

He added that the UHC should borrow leaf from successes recorded by CHF including the ability to let the schemes be financially stable.

Project Manager of HPSS Ally Kebby said the UHC is timely and mandatory, adding that the investment made by the government in the health sector must consider the ability to afford the cost of services.

“The only way to ensure quality health services is through insurance, we have leant through the 15 years of implementing the improved CHF (CHF Iliyoboreshwa Project) which has taught us a lot,”

he said.

“There are many issues to be addressed before the UHC is implemented like how to integrate transportation issues to handling critical and emergency diseases,”

he said.

Deputy Permanent Secretary in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government) Dr Grace Magembe said that even though the country plans to introduce Universal Health Insurance (UHI), the improved CHF will not be abandoned, but rather strengthened.

“The CHF will not be abandoned. We are going to embrace what it is currently doing, including capitalising on its achievements,”

Dr Magembe stated.

Dr Magembe noted that there is concern from not only partners but also common citizens over how CHF will operate in the presence of envisaged UHC.

She called upon participants to give their views on how best to incorporate CHF into the envisaged UHI, whose Bill for its establishment was recently read for the first time in the Parliament.

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