The Crisis

The scale of suffering and preventable loss of life caused by the health crisis in sub-Saharan Africa is staggering.

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the shortage of trained health workers -- doctors, nurses, laboratory technicians and others -- is a fundamental barrier to improving health around the world. Without trained healthcare workers, no amount of money, medication or equipment can save lives. In fact, sub-Saharan Africa carries 25% of the global disease burden but tragically has only 3 percent of the world's health workers. This shortage is a major factor in the very poor maternal mortality rates in most African countries.

Tanzania has only one MD per 33,000 patients - but the situation is even worse in rural districts where there is just one doctor for 1,000,000 people. Coupled with the particularly high disease burden in rural areas, doctors and healthcare workers who practice there are overwhelmed by the scale of the health needs. As a result, these healthcare workers suffer from isolation from peers and lack of access to career development -- all factors which contribute to a high attrition rate of rural healthcare workers.

The Touch Foundation is committed to providing Tanzania with the tools to combat this crisis.