Monitoring and Evaluating Progress towards Universal Health Coverage in Tanzania (Volume 11, Number 9)

Achieving universal health coverage (UHC)—defined as access to needed health services to all and protection against financial risks arising from paying for health services —is among the top priorities of reform agendas across many countries. Provision of health services should be determined by individuals' need rather than their ability to pay and, at the same time, utilization of services by those seeking health care should not impose the risk of financial catastrophe. In addition, paying for health care should be administered in an equitable manner whereby individuals with a higher ability to pay contribute a relatively higher share of their income to health financing compared to those individuals with a lower ability to pay. Tanzania has been making efforts towards UHC starting with the abolition of user fees soon after independence in 1967, before their reintroduction in the early 1990s, and the introduction of health insurance schemes in early 2000.