Tanzania convenes IHR Technical Review to sharpen public health emergency readiness

TANZANIA—Tanzania’s Ministry of Health, supported by the Pandemic Fund and in collaboration with the WHO and other partners, convened an International Health Regulations (IHR) Technical Working Group (TWG) meeting in Arusha from 24 to 27 March 2026.

The gathering brought together stakeholders from multiple sectors to evaluate the country’s progress in developing systems to prevent, detect, and respond to public health emergencies—and to outline the next steps.

The TWG focused on reviewing IHR core capacity implementation between January and March 2026, identifying gaps, and setting priority actions for the April to June 2026 quarter.

Moving beyond routine reporting

National IHR Focal Point Dr. Vida Mmbaga opened the discussions with a clear call to action. She urged participants to ensure that the review process demonstrates tangible results, not just numbers on paper.

“This assessment must clearly show the impact we are making in strengthening systems that support timely prevention, detection, notification, and response to public health events,” she said.

She also stressed the importance of aligning efforts with the National Action Plan for Health Security and achieving the 7-1-7 target—a global benchmark for faster outbreak detection and response.

Multisectoral collaboration at the core

Director of Preventive Services Dr. Otilia Gowelle reinforced that no single sector can shoulder this work alone.

She called for coordinated engagement across government, health, agriculture, and environmental bodies to build and sustain all IHR core capacities.

Her remarks pointed to the One Health approach, which recognises that human, animal, and environmental health are deeply interconnected—and that managing risks in one area affects outcomes in all others.

WHO recognises Tanzania’s progress

Dr. Faraja Msemwa, WHO’s Emergency Preparedness and Response Cluster Lead, acknowledged Tanzania’s consistent efforts.

She noted that Tanzania ranks among the leading countries in Africa for regularly submitting Mandatory State Party Annual Assessment reports.

She also highlighted steady improvements in both mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar across key IHR capacities, as reflected in SPAR and JEE assessment scores.

“WHO remains committed to supporting Tanzania to achieve even greater advancements in implementing the IHR,” she said.

A structured platform for accountability

The IHR Technical Working Group meets every quarter to review activities outlined in the Annual Operational Plan, which flows from Tanzania’s five-year National Action Plan for Health Security.

Through evidence-based planning and cross-sector coordination, the TWG holds stakeholders accountable and keeps the IHR Monitoring and Evaluation Framework implementation on course.