An Essential Health Benefit (EHB) is a policy intervention designed to direct resources to
priority areas of health service delivery to reduce disease burdens and ensure equity in health.
Mainland Tanzania’s most recent benefit package – the National Essential Health Care
Interventions Package-Tanzania (NEHCIP-TZ) – describes the EHB as a minimum or “limited
list of public health and clinical interventions.” The package identifies where priorities are set
for improved public health. This report shows the challenges of turning a policy ‘wish list’ and
package into a reality of services that can be accessed across different facility levels.
This report describes the evolution of mainland Tanzania’s EHB; the motivations for
developing the EHBs, the methods used to develop, define and cost them; how it is being
disseminated, communicated, and used; and the facilitators (and barriers) to its development,
uptake or use. Findings presented in this report are from three stages of analysis: literature
review, key informant perspectives and a national consultative meeting. The case study on
Tanzania was implemented in a research programme of the Regional Network for Equity in
Health in East and Southern Africa (EQUINET) through Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) and
Training and Research Support Centre (TARSC). The programme is being implemented in
association with the East Central and Southern African Health Community, supported by IDRC
(Canada).