Making Motherhood Safe

This project aims to mobilize a rapid response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from private sector health facilities in Dar es Salaam. The project is a public private partnership that increases coordination in providing health care services procuring personal protective equipment (PPE) and training health care workers on COVID-19 preparedness. Dar es Salaam is at the epicenter of COVID-19 Tanzania. The pandemic has already overwhelmed public facilities and the Government of Tanzania has requested support from the private sector in responding to the crisis. This effort is coordinated by an association of private sector health facilities (both for-profit and not-for-profit) which includes the Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT). CCBRT has on-site training facilities and expertise in providing training to nurses and doctors for 23 facilities where the majority of births take place in Dar es Salaam. This allows CCBRT to intervene to provide training and PPE ensuring essential reproductive maternal newborn and child health (RMNCH) care continues during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) the coordination training and provision of PPE ensuring private sector facilities can work with the Government of Tanzania to respond to COVID-19; (2) the safeguarding of maternal newborn and child health (MNCH) services at public health facilities including through training and information on COVID-19; (3) the coordination and planning of the private sector’s response to COVID-19; (4) the provision of training on COVID-19 case management to health care workers at private health institutions and joint private-public COVID-19 surge facilities; (5) the joint procurement of awareness raising materials (including accessible formats for persons living with disabilities); (6) a detailed assessment of MNCH gaps and needs in public health facilities due to the COVID-19 pandemic; (7) training for staff at 23 Dar es Salaam health facilities on how to conduct RMNCH activities in the COVID-19 context; (8) the procurement of PPE sanitizer and fumigants to safeguard MNCH service providers in 22 supported facilities; (9) the procurement of essential medicines and consumables to ensure continuity in MNCH services in 23 public facilities in Dar es Salaam; and (10) the manufacturing of face shields with CCBRT’s 3D printer and the distribution of the face shields to supported facilities.