Women in Surgery – Tanzania

By Violet Lupondo

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa has a predicted need for 3.7 million health workers in order to provide universal health care by 2030 (1). Tanzania is situated on the Eastern side of Africa, with the land area of about 945 km2 and population of 50M. The country is faced with major challenges such as poor infrastructure, low education levels, poverty, and disease including musculoskeletal injuries contributing to mortality and disability. Tanzania has one of the lowest physician-to-population ratios in the world despite high poverty-related disease burdens. In Tanzania, 17 percent of the burden of disease and 19 percent of deaths are due to surgical disease.

The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery estimates that at least 20-40 surgical specialists are needed per 100,000 population. The Tanzania Development Vision 2025 commits the nation to providing ‘access to quality primary health care for all’. To fulfill this vision, the government is working to increase the health workforce to meet the demands of the population. The current doctor ratio is only 3.1 per 100,000 population. In line with this effort, Tanzanian universities have expanded their medical student intakes dramatically from 55 students in 1991 to 1580 in 2015. Rural areas are severely underserved by health workers. In 2006, only 20% of doctors practiced in rural areas where 73% of Tanzania's population live. Despite the increasing number of doctors, there is no proportional increase in number of surgical trainees, especially not in orthopaedics and trauma.