Currently, Tanzania hosts around 246,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mainly from neighbouring Burundi. MSF’s support has focused on specialised and secondary healthcare with the aim of improving the quality of care for refugees and Tanzanian host communities.
MSF has also responded to several emergencies in the country including floods.
In August 2022, an agreement was signed for us to begin working in Liwale district. This project aims to provide access to quality primary and secondary healthcare in seven government health facilities, focusing on children under five and pregnant women.
Data and information from the International Activity Report 2021.
In 2021, MSF provided healthcare to some 77,000 refugees in Nduta camp and the surrounding host community. Our services included care and counselling for victims of sexual and gender-based violence, mental health consultations and treatment for tuberculosis, HIV and non-communicable diseases. We also ran paediatric and adult wards at the hospital in the camp and assisted deliveries. For patients requiring emergency surgical and obstetric care, we facilitated referrals to the nearby government hospital. In addition, we supported emergency preparedness and response activities, for example, opening a COVID-19 isolation unit in the hospital in Nduta camp, where we took care of 41 patients.
During the year, we handed over three health posts and an outpatient therapeutic feeding centre to the Tanzanian Red Cross Society, enabling us to increase our focus on specialist care.
On 6 December, Mtendeli, one of the three refugee camps in Kigoma region, was officially closed, and the 20,000 people living there were transferred to Nduta. Mtendeli camp was established in 2016 after tens of thousands of people fled into Tanzania from neighbouring Burundi to escape conflict. The voluntary repatriation of Burundian refugees continues, with 139,305 repatriations completed between January and November 2021.
