title: Establishing an Anaesthesia and Intensive Care partnership and aiming for national impact in Tanzania.
abstract: Anaesthesia and Intensive Care is a neglected specialty in low-income countries. There is an acute shortage of health workers - several low-income countries have less than 1 anaesthesia provider per 100,000 population. Only 1.5% of hospitals in Africa have the intensive care resources needed for managing patients with sepsis. Health partnerships between institutions in high and low-income countries have been proposed as an effective way to strengthen health systems. The aim of this article is to describe the origin and conduct of a health partnership in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care between institutions in Tanzania and Sweden and how the partnership has expanded to have an impact at regional and national levels.The Muhimbili-Karolinska Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Collaboration was initiated in 2008 on the request of the Executive Director of Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam. The partnership has conducted training courses, exchanges, research projects and introduced new equipment, routines and guidelines. The partnership has expanded to include all hospitals in Dar es Salaam. Through the newly formed Life Support Foundation, the partnership has had a national impact assisting the reanimation of the Society of Anaesthesiologists of Tanzania and has seen a marked increase of the number of young doctors choosing a residency in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care.
authors.affiliation: Society of Anaesthesiologists of Tanzania, PO Box 65588, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. drumpoki@yahoo.co.uk.|Mbeya Zonal Referral Hospital, Mbeya, Tanzania. drumpoki@yahoo.co.uk.
authors.forename: Mpoki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ulisubisya
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Surgical Services, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76, Stockholm, Sweden.|Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Section for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jörnvall
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Surgical Services, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76, Stockholm, Sweden.|Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Section for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Irestedt
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesia, Intensive Care and Surgical Services, Karolinska University Hospital, 171 76, Stockholm, Sweden.|Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Section for Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.|Global Health - Health Systems and Policy, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baker
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia / Q000592:standards*; D003142:Communication; D003422:Critical Care / Q000592:standards*; D003906:Developing Countries; D006295:Health Resources / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013636:Tanzania; D013663:Teaching
keywords: Africa; Anaesthesia; Capacity building; Cooperative behaviour; Critical care; Developing countries; Global health; Health services; Quality of health care; Tanzania