In northwest Tanzania, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is providing stronger pathways to care, and reducing the risk of dying during childbirth for women and their babies. This will benefit the lives of refugees and the host community alike.
At Nduta camp in the district of Kibondo, which hosts thousands of refugees from Burundi, MSF staff have witnessed the significant impact on the health of pregnant women and newborns through the ever-growing trust in maternal and newborn care services that MSF and our partners provide.
"I am happy to see mothers coming to the hospital for delivery and leaving with happy faces, embracing their newborns," said Elda Kyando, MSF medical team leader. "We have been able to maintain access to health care services for Nduta refugees and the surrounding community. We continue to provide inpatient care, including [through] an emergency room, general and intensive pediatrics, neonatology, and maternal care.”
"I have three children and gave birth [to all of them] at the hospital in Nduta,” said Lilian from the neighboring village of Malolongwa. “When we come from the village to the camp, we are given a permit and accommodation close to our residence. The services are good, and the staff friendly. You are listened to and very well cared for.”
MSF referral network saves lives
MSF’s 15-bed maternity department focuses on medical conditions that are known to significantly increase the risk of maternal mortality, including postpartum hemorrhage, eclampsia, sepsis, obstructed labor, and unsafe abortions. For patients needing referral to the district hospital for higher level of care, MSF and its partners designed a robust referral pathway that emphasizes saving time in the process, to ultimately increase patients' chances of survival.
Since January 2024, MSF has supported a total of 624 referrals to Kibondo Hospital for people living in Nduta camp and the district, particularly in the case of high-risk pregnancies that require emergency surgery.
Maintaining a stable blood bank has been crucial to mitigate the risks of hemorrhage during or after delivery in both hospitals. "One night, I received a call from Kibondo District Hospital about a patient we had referred who was severely bleeding,” recalled Kyando. “The hospital had no matching blood, and it was difficult to find a donor. We managed to quickly send three units of blood from our blood bank that allowed the hospital staff to save the woman's life."
Health promotion programs have increased awareness about maternal and neonatal health in and around the camp, fostering trust in existing services and encouraging women to seek timely heath care.
Despite several persistent health challenges in Kibondo for both refugee and host communities, investing in maternal and neonatal services has led to a real improvement in access to health care for mothers-to-be and their newborn babies.
Our work in Tanzania
In 1993, MSF initiated its first emergency programs in Tanzania to aid refugees from Burundi, Rwanda, and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in Kigoma. From 1995 to 2001, various health interventions were implemented, including malaria control, water provision, and primary health care in Kasulu, Mtwara, and Kigoma. These projects were followed by others focusing on emergency preparedness against cholera epidemics, malaria outbreak responses, as well as on HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention.
In 2015, MSF started working in the refugee settings of Nyarugusu, Nduta, and Kibondo, where our teams opened a 175-bed hospital offering primary health care and health promotion.
In 2023, MSF continued to support the ministry of health in its efforts to respond to cholera and Marburg fever outbreaks as well as other health emergencies, including malaria response and mass vaccination. In the Lindi region of southern Tanzania, MSF launched a program at Liwale District Hospital to improve access to primary and secondary health care for pregnant women and children.
