AccScience Publishing / GHES / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/ghes.2299
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PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE

Decolonization of health care in Tanzania

Sanaa Said1 Nateiya Yongolo2 Sanjura Biswaro2 Richard Walker3 Clive Kelly4*
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1 Department of Medicine, Mnazi Mmoja Referral Hospital, Stonetown, Zanzibar, Tanzania
2 Department of Medicine, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, Moshi, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
3 Department of Elderly Care Medicine, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Hospitals Trust and Newcastle University, Newcastle, United Kingdom
4 Department of Medicine, James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, United Kingdom
Submitted: 23 November 2023 | Accepted: 4 January 2024 | Published: 24 April 2024
© 2024 by the Author (s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Geographical location of residence and socioeconomic status are two primary factors determining one’s access to health care, which often derail the common goal of affording equal accessibility of health-care resources to all individuals. The authors, comprising three physicians from Tanzania and two from the United Kingdom (UK), share a common commitment to understanding and addressing the consequences of colonization on health-care provision. Drawing on extensive experience in both clinical and academic capacities in East Africa, we define decolonization from the perspective of building sustainable and independent clinical and academic services in Tanzania, supported by experienced UK clinicians. In this opinion piece, we describe and discuss workforce and political issues that have shaped the historical and present influences of the UK in Tanzanian health care. In addition, we highlight certain successful initiatives that are already improving outcomes in Africa and offer further examples of practices that might improve clinical and academic outcomes for marginalized populations in the future.

Keywords
Decolonization
Health care
Academic collaboration
Tanzania
Education
Funding
None.
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