Support a FAME Healthcare Worker

By participating in this program, FAME supporters help us attract Tanzanian healthcare workers to our medical facility and retain them over time. With Tanzania facing an acute shortage of qualified healthcare workers, particularly in the most rural parts of the country, staffing is the biggest challenge for medical facilities like ours. In 2005, the Joint Annual Health Sector Review stated that the health worker crisis in the country had reached emergency proportions, with the majority of trained medical personnel concentrated in the city centers.  The nurse midwife to patient ratio in some rural areas is estimated to be as low as 35:100,000 (WHO, 2007), with doctor to patient ratios even more staggering.  While the government has invested heavily in the construction of dispensaries all over rural Tanzania, retaining healthcare workers in rural posts has proved very difficult.  Low pay, social isolation, few opportunities for professional development, and harsh living conditions are among the most frequently cited reasons for the problem.

FAME endeavors to provide a work environment in which Tanzanian healthcare workers can do the job they were trained to do and feel supported in the process, even in rural Tanzania.  We do our best to provide rich learning opportunities, competitive salaries, and a well-resourced medical facility for our team.  Currently, our medical team includes four Clinicians, three Nurses, three Nurse Assistants, two Lab Technologists and two Lab Assistants.   As we expand our services to include inpatient care, our staffing needs will only increase.  By participating in this program, FAME supporters are playing a central role in helping us provide our rural population with the medical care they deserve.