Mission & Approach

Our goals are not unusual, but our approach is said to be inventive and pioneering. Yet in the end we actually want to make ourselves redundant, leaving behind a sustainable and functioning health care system that employs sufficient health workers to serve their communities.

Our approach

We will improve Tanzanian healthcare only if we tackle problems in context, engaging local organizations and government from the beginning. Our model is not to build a new health care system; rather, it is to rebuild the existing one.

To do this, we tailor our activities to meet the needs of our partner institutions. Typically, a partner will present us with a strategic goal – for example, doubling the size of a medical training school or increasing productivity of a hospital laboratory. The Touch Foundation will analyze the problem, identify the costs, and prioritize and plan for what needs to be done. Where critical resources do not exist, we seek to bring in partners or direct donor funds to overcome the hurdle.

The impact of our approach

• Because we are invested for the long-term: We can invest in the ten-year training cycle of Tanzanian specialists – pediatricians, surgeons and obstetricians – who will be able to train others and become the leaders of their national health system tomorrow.
• Because we collaborate with the public, private, and nonprofit sectors: We can leverage the experience of donor agencies, analytical skills of management consultants, and expertise of leading medical institutions to craft innovative and sustainable solutions.
• Because we work in partnership with the Tanzanian Government, hospital management, and community leaders: We ensure that our work supports national strategic goals, avoids duplication, and that the activities we undertake will continue under local ownership long after we have gone.
• Because we begin with rigorous analysis: We understand the real challenges faced and ensure our resources, and those of our partners, are directed efficiently to obtain the greatest possible impact.
• Because we seek to improve the existing system and not to create a new one: We learn from what others have done and are doing and we do not create a second system that only serves some of the population. In other words, our programs will be sustainable.

Our mission

• Provide funding and management resources to developing countries for local programs that create human resources for health (HRH)
• Build awareness around problems in healthcare delivery in developing countries
• Create, collect, store, and provide access to the leading information about global health, and share the knowledge gained from programs we support