Over 500,000 elderly in Tanzania cannot afford healthcare

Josephine Christopher, DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania

An estimated 585,672 senior citizens, equivalent to 27.65 percent of the total adults above 60 years of age in Tanzania mainland, are unable to afford healthcare, Community Development, Gender, Women and Special Groups Minister Dorothy Gwajima has revealed.

Gwajima told the National Assembly on Thursday that by the end of June 2023, there were 2.2 million adult Tanzanians over the age of 60 years in the mainland, with males accounting for 1.3 million and females 735,169.

The Minister said that there were still a substantial number of elderly who were unable to pay for medicine prescribed to them because they did not have enough money.

Gwajima was responding to a question from Newala-Rural Member of Parliament Maimuna Mtanda, who wanted to know the government's strategy to ensure that the elderly over 60 years of age who are eligible to receive free health services do get those services.

 "The government has provided identification cards through the improved community health fund (iCHF), the government continues to process to identify the elderly who are unable to afford healthcare at all councils in the country so that they can get medical services paid for by the government," the minister said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that the number of people aged 60 years and older will increase from 1 billion in 2019 to 1.4 billion by 2030 and 2.1 billion by 2050.

The UN agency has said that there is a projected increase in demand for primary health care and long-term care, urging countries to reinvent health care provisions for the elderly.