THE government and the Republic of Korea through its international agency KOICA have launched a knowledge -sharing initiative aimed at advancing Tanzania health sector.

Speaking at workshop in Dodoma at the weekend,KOICA Country Director Manshik Shik highlighted the role of Korea's Q-deep programme I'm providing technical assistance to partner nations, including Tanzania.

"The Q-Deep programme enhances development cooperation by dispatching professionals from various fields to support partner countries through technical assistance aligned with their development needs,"he said.

He said the experts work jointly with local stakeholders to share Korea's development experience, conduct research and design solutions tailored to Tanzania's healthcare system.

According to Shin,in October 2024,Korea's National Health Insurance Service (NHIS),with support from KOICA Q-Deep partnered with Ministry of Health and the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) to carry out preliminary studies on Universal health coverage (UHC).

The collaboration resulted in an eight -month project signed to lay a strong foundation for UHC in Tanzania by developing a comprehensive long -term implementation strategy.

Technical assistance focused on three key areas, government support through joint studies and analysis of existing UHC models,policy planning and building implementation capacity within the ministry of Health and NHIF.

Last Month,NHIS KOICA,MOH,and NHIF shared a draft mid-term UHC implementation roadmap with government stakeholders in Dodoma.
Shin noted that six strategic recommendations were proposed to support the realization of UHC in Tanzania.These include automatic enrollment to enhance coverage using national IDs, mandatory registration and enforcement mechanisms subsidies for Vulnerable groups community outreach and enrollment promotion, digital in novation in healthcare delivery and insurance payment system reform.

He emphasized that along side these strategies, increased investment in infrastructure, service quality improvement,diversified revenue sources and mult-stakeholder governance will be essential for sustainable UHC .

As the project nears completion,NHIS,MOH,and NHIF finalise a comprehensive UHC roadmap. Shin reaffirmed Korea's government will continue to support Tanzania's journey toward achieving universal health coverage.