The government is stepping up the use of research and health data to determine where and how public health interventions should be deployed, seeking to make services more responsive to the needs of communities.
The Ministry of Health says stronger evidence will help policymakers identify emerging health threats, track disease patterns and direct resources to areas facing the greatest challenges instead of relying mainly on estimates.
The approach is already being applied to efforts to strengthen surveillance of chikungunya, with research proposals on the disease reviewed to generate evidence that could guide its control across the country.
Speaking in Dodoma on Monday, September 14, 2026, on behalf of the Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr Masumbuko Nassoro said health research was essential to understanding the scale and changing nature of health challenges facing Tanzanians.
“We need to conduct research that generates scientific evidence to help the government understand the scale and trends of health challenges, strengthen disease surveillance and plan interventions that meet the needs of citizens,” he said.
Dr Nassoro said the evidence generated through research would help health experts understand chikungunya more closely and identify appropriate measures for controlling the disease.
The findings could also help authorities determine which areas require greater attention and resources, particularly where disease surveillance points to increased risks.
The ministry is also strengthening community-level health statistics through the Sample Registration System (SRS), implemented by the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA).
The system is designed to improve the collection of information on births, deaths and causes of death occurring in communities.
Dr Nassoro said the data would give the government a clearer picture of the country's health burden and help policymakers identify problems early.
“Data on births, deaths and causes of death will help the government accurately plan health services, identify challenges on time, make evidence-based decisions and allocate resources according to the actual needs of communities,” he said.
The information is particularly important for health planning because mortality patterns and causes of death can point to areas where prevention, treatment or other services need to be strengthened.
The ministry's push for evidence-based planning is intended to ensure that research findings and statistics translate into practical improvements in healthcare delivery.
Reliable data can help authorities decide where new services are needed, which diseases require closer monitoring and where existing interventions may need to be adjusted.
It can also help the government assess whether resources are reaching the communities that need them most.
The ministry said continued investment in research, disease surveillance and data collection would strengthen health planning and improve the ability of the health system to respond to changing needs.
For citizens, the ultimate test will be whether better data leads to better-targeted interventions, faster responses to health threats and services that reflect the realities facing communities.