Your Excellency President Samia Suluhu Hassan,
Members of the media, dear colleagues and friends,
Habari Za mchana. Thank you all for coming today.
First, I would like to thank Her Excellency for her hospitality in inviting me to Tanzania, and for her leadership and commitment in promoting and protecting the health of her citizens.
We have just held a constructive meeting covering a wide range of areas concerning her government’s work to strengthen its health system and provide the services needed to advance health for all Tanzanians. This is a follow up of our meeting during the G20 in Brazil in November (2024).
I commended the President for the investments made in emergency preparedness in recent years. I also recognized Tanzania’s successful launch of the Universal Health and Preparedness Review report, which showcases the country’s dedication to health system resilience.
In addition, I congratulated the President on her commitment to universal health coverage through the enactment of the Universal Health Insurance Act 2023.
We also discussed the government’s drive to strengthen its health workforce through the launch of the Community Health Workers Program in 2023, an initiative that is helping introduce more graduate health workers into the health sector.
WHO is proud to have supported Tanzania’s creation of new capacities for delivering health services, including by training health workers.
All this and more demonstrates your government’s commitment to supporting the health of all Tanzanians, especially women and children, which is evidenced through the reduction in maternal and child mortality. I again commend you.
Her Excellency also updated me on the confirmation today of an outbreak of Marburg virus disease in the northwestern Kagera region, and I pledged WHO’s continued support to bringing the outbreak under control.
Since the first suspected cases of Marburg were reported earlier, Tanzania has scaled up its response by enhancing case detection, setting up treatment centres and a mobile laboratory for testing samples, and deploying national response teams.
As you know, Tanzania has gained strong experience in controlling Marburg, as this is the second reported outbreak of the disease in Kagera. The first outbreak was almost two years ago, in March 2023, in which a total of nine cases and six deaths were reported.
The government’s investments in response to the last outbreak has built capacities that, I hope, will enable Tanzania to bring this latest outbreak under control as soon as possible.
To support Tanzania’s response, I am releasing US$ 3 million from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies. This is in addition to the US$ 50 000 that we contributed earlier to support the initial investigation.
At this point, I would like to thank our partners, including the European Union, US government agencies, the United Kingdom, and numerous other national and international health partners, for their strong collaboration to bring this current outbreak under control, under the leadership of the government.
Unfortunately, there are not yet any approved treatments or vaccines for Marburg, although several are in development.
But outbreaks can be stopped quickly with proven public health measures to prevent infections and save lives, as Tanzania did in 2023.
Considering the low global risk, and the strong capabilities of the Tanzanian government, WHO advises against restrictions on trade and travel to the country. As her Excellency said, Tanzania is open for business.
Now is a time for collaboration, and commitment, to protecting the health of all people in Tanzania, and the region, from the risks posed by this disease.
WHO, working with its partners and under the leadership of the government, is committed to supporting the government to bring the outbreak under control as soon as possible, and to build a healthier, safer, fairer future for all the people of Tanzania.
Thank you so much your Excellency for your deep commitment to health and I assure you that you have our full support.
Asante sana. I thank you.