The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) has contributed to health in Tanzania since 1929, working with government to support identified gaps in needs. Today, AKDN’s health care activities in Tanzania includes employment of 1,000 staff, over 460,000 outpatient visits annually, including nearly 1.2 million lab tests, 65,000 radiology investigations, and 7,000 surgeries annually across its facilities.
Its nursing and midwifery programmes support strengthened health systems throughout Tanzania by upgrading nursing skills, improving the quality of health care and developing new and more professional nursing courses. Its postgraduate medical education programmes in family medicine, internal medicine and surgery contribute to increasing the pool of specialised human resources.
Its community health programmes reach poor people, focusing on maternal and child health. In collaboration with the Government of Tanzania, it is currently expanding its integrated health network to double the number of beneficiaries of its programmes.
The Aga Khan Health Service, Tanzania (AKHS,T), has an established history of over 80 years offering health care in Tanzania. The Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) built its first dispensary in 1929, providing medical services in Dar es Salaam. In 1939, a 10-bed maternity home was opened, and ten years hence, in 1948, a nursing home equipped with surgical facilities and 32 inpatient beds was built. The main hospital, now a 74- bed facility that is accredited by Joint Commission International was opened in 1964.
The Aga khan University (AKU)'s School of Nursing and Midwifery in Dar es Salaam aims to strengthen health systems in Tanzania by upgrading nursing skills, improving the quality of health care and developing new and more professional nursing courses.
In addition, the University trains urgently needed specialist physicians in family medicine, surgery and internal medicine through its four-year, full-time Postgraduate Medical Education programme at the Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam.