The Ifakara Health Institute, in collaboration with the African Population & Health Research Centre and the Countdown to 2030 project, is organizing a Statistical Analysis workshop in Dar es Salaam from April 15th to 16th, 2024.

The main goal of this two-day workshop is to determine the most accurate estimates of current levels, recent trends, and geographical variations in maternal mortality across different regions of Tanzania.

The agenda for the workshop includes sessions on analyzing maternal mortality data, reviewing survey results and census data, examining studies conducted in hospital settings, evaluating data completeness, and refining facility data, with a particular emphasis on identifying causes of death.

Professor Ties Boerma from the University of Manitoba and Professor Claudia Hanson from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) contributed their expertise to the workshop. 

Representing Ifakara were Dr. Dustan Bishanga, Josephine Shabani, and Jacqueline Minja. Additionally, from the Ministry of Health (MoH), Salum Faru, Habib Ismail, and Ahmad Makuwani participated, underscoring the MoH's dedication to addressing maternal mortality in Tanzania.

The academic sector was well-represented, with Daudi Simba from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) and Juliet Sebba from Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) lending their insights to the discussions. In a spirit of multi-stakeholder collaboration, Caroline Shayo, representing the World Bank/Global Financing Facility (GFF), also contributed to the workshop.

Plans and next steps 

Moving forward, key plans are in motion to effectively tackle maternal mortality in Tanzania. The team is to finalize their report, release a publication and hold a dissemination workshop with key stakeholders between October and December this year, ensuring broader sharing of insights and strategies derived from the report. 

Countdown to 2023

Countdown to 2030 (CD2030) is a collaboration of academics from global, regional, country institutions, UN agencies, and World Bank and civil society organizations, to track the progress of life-saving interventions for Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health and Nutrition (RMNCAH+N). 

Since 2013, IHI has been working on CD2030 in collaboration with MOH, WHO, World Bank, and UNICEF to improve coverage measurement and monitoring, and strengthen­­ the regional and country capacity for evidence generation and use. The principal investigator for this study is Dr. Honorati Masanja while the project coordinator is Josephine Shabani. 

Read more about the project here