title: Creating a national culture of quality: the Tanzania experience.
abstract: Although quality improvement has been a priority for Tanzania's health sector since the 1970s, few effective quality improvement initiatives were implemented, due to limited expertise, political commitment and resources. More recently, as the HIV epidemic gained momentum within the country, an influx of funding and of international organizations with quality improvement expertise accelerated the implementation of quality improvement projects, as well as efforts to institutionalize quality improvement at the national level. The support of US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and other donors, and the increasing numbers of HIV-implementing partners focused on quality management, and quality improvement strategies catalysed the development of HIV-specific quality improvement initiatives first, and then of national quality improvement frameworks. The diversity of quality improvement approaches championed by various donors and partners also presented important challenges to harmonization and institutionalization of quality improvement programmes.
authors.affiliation: aNational AIDS Control Program, Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Tanzania bHealth Services Inspectorate and Quality Assurance Section in the Division of Health Quality Assurance of the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Tanzania.
authors.forename: Patrick E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Mwidunda
authors.forename: Eliudi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Eliakimu
mesh_terms: D060740:Disease Eradication / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014943:Global Health; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D006801:Humans; D018445:Infectious Disease Transmission, Vertical / Q000517:prevention & control*; D007391:International Cooperation; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D055818:Public-Private Sector Partnerships / Q000458:organization & administration*; D058996:Quality Improvement / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D059039:Standard of Care; D013636:Tanzania / Q000453:epidemiology; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology