Numbers in the News — Digest #8
Data Zetu’s eighth digest of data-driven Tanzanian media stories
This blog post was published as part of the Data Zetu project. Data Zetu is now an initiative of the Tanzania dLab, a local NGO that promotes innovation and data literacy through a premier center of excellence. For more information about the dLab, visit www.dlab.or.tz. For more information about the Data Zetu project, visit www.irex.org.
Numbers in the News is a recurring post highlighting data journalism in Tanzania. Learn more in our first Digest here.
Access to medical care
Access to medical care has always been a concern in Tanzania, but there are places that have it worse off than others. Following some research, Media Fellow Esther Mngodo finds that there are 5 regions that are presumably the worst places to fall sick due to lack of healthcare facilities. Those 5 regions include Katavi district, where there is only one hospital, Geita region, where the ratio between number of healthcare professionals and patients is 2:8, and Manyara, where 63% of patients under five are being diagnosed with malaria.
Child mortality and population growth
The Tanzanian population is said to have increased to 54.2 million people, with an estimate of 77.5 million people by 2030.The Ministry of Finance and Planning justified this statement by suggesting the influx in population is because of the decrease in child mortality under the age of five. Media fellow Emilian Mallya performed a #CloudsCheck (a fact-checking initiative of Clouds Media Group) to verify if child mortality has reduced. Based on data from UNICEF and World Bank, child mortality shows to have decreased.
Economic opportunities and growth
The number of women owned enterprises has increased with majority being micro enterprises. Media Fllow Beatrice Philemon says some issues faced within these micro enterprises is the lack of micro loans available. The National Economic Empowerment Council has attempted to alleviate this issue by disbursing loans to these women led micro enterprises. Although loans are sometimes necessary, businesses are advised not to take loans without a solid business plan.
Healthcare spending
Media Fellow Rosemary Mirondo notes that healthcare spending has been significantly reduced affecting the availability of contraceptives.The Ministry of Health plans to expand its family planning budget to Tsh 17 billion by 2020, but funds over the last few years have not properly been disbursed. With the government cutting the healthcare budget by 19%, these goals by the Ministry of Health do not seem ideal. For women in need of family planning options, eShangazi, a bot centered around sexual reproductive health, provides more information on any family planning questions including where to receive these services.
Below are more data-driven stories that emphasize Data Zetu’s priority sectors (health, economic growth, and gender equality):
- Is it true Tanzania now has 52,000 industries? — Clouds Check
- Govt selectively cuts budget to match available resources — The Citizen
Data Zetu is a coalition of Tanzanian civic innovation organisations that aim to empower communities to make better, evidence-based decisions to improve their lives.
The coalition consists of Sahara Sparks (SS), Humanitarian Openstreetmap Team (HOT), and Tanzania Bora Initiative (TBI), with global expertise from SBC4D and IREX. Code for Tanzania (CfT) is a former member of the Data Zetu coalition. Data Zetu is funded by the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
Data Zetu operates as part of the $21.8 million Data Collaboratives for Local Impact (DCLI) programme administered by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).
