Strengthening Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) in Tanzania

Tanzania was the first country to undergo a Joint External Evaluation (JEE) in 2016. The JEE is a tool developed by the WHO (World Health Organization) to map and measure a country’s capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to public health emergencies. Tanzania scored a 1 (having no capacity) out of 5 (having sustainable capacity) for antimicrobial stewardship (AMS). The challenge for Tanzania is raising the JEE score for AMS to combat the threat of growing antimicrobial resistance by optimizing the use of antimicrobials.

This technical brief summarizes MTaPS’ support to the government of Tanzania to strengthen AMS governance at the national level and implement evidence-based AMS practices at the health facility level. With MTaPS support from 2018-2022, Tanzania has completed 9 out of 24 WHO benchmark action for AMS. As a result, Tanzania’ JEE score for AMS has progressed to 2, putting the country on the path to combating the threat and spread of antimicrobial resistance through the rational use of antimicrobials.