Tanzania is launching a public–private partnership (PPP) to reduce newborn mortality, involving Aga Khan Hospital, Aga Khan University Medical College, and Amana Regional Referral Hospital in collaboration with the Paediatric Association of Tanzania (PAT). The partnership aims to improve “initial stabilisation” of newborns, the critical period immediately after birth, by training frontline health workers in respiratory support, thermal regulation, infection control, and the use of modern neonatal equipment.
Tanzania’s neonatal mortality remains high: the United Nations Inter-Agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME) reports about 24 deaths per 1,000 live births, nearly double the World Health Organization’s Sustainable Development Goal target of 12 by 2030. According to national statistics, nearly half of all under-five deaths happen in the first 28 days of life, largely due to preventable causes like birth asphyxia, prematurity, and infections.
Historically, Tanzanian hospitals have recorded birth asphyxia, respiratory distress, prematurity, sepsis, and infections as leading causes of neonatal death. A retrospective hospital-based survey across 35 facilities found that neonatal mortality increased from 3.7 per 1,000 live births (2006–2010) to 10.4 per 1,000 (2011–2015), with early neonatal deaths accounting for most of the fatalities.
The new PPP includes a ten-week training programme combining online, practical, and mentorship modules. Frontline doctors and nurses from lower-level hospitals will be trained to stabilise newborns before referral to higher-level facilities, and participants from the first cohort will return as “trainers of trainers.”
Dr Naomi Mwamanenge, a paediatrician and neonatologist, said the initiative addresses a critical “skills gap” in lower-level facilities. She noted that while many facilities now have modern equipment, staff capacity to use them effectively remains a challenge.
Evidence shows that improving immediate newborn care can save lives: a Tanzanian study found a significant drop in perinatal mortality after implementing a quality-improvement programme, with neonatal deaths in the first 24 hours falling by nearly 40%.
By bolstering the skills of public-sector health workers and strengthening stabilisation protocols, Tanzania hopes the PPP with Aga Khan institutions will meaningfully reduce preventable neonatal deaths, a long-overlooked component of the country’s child survival agenda.
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