Before 2024, Zanzibar’s health security work was fragmented across ministries, agencies and partners, leading to duplication and gaps in preparedness. Renewed government commitment, supported by Resolve to Save Lives’ Program Management for Epidemic Preparedness (PMEP) program, established regular high-level steering committee meetings, clear terms of reference and an online NAPHS tracking tool. These changes turned scattered coordination into a structured, accountable system for implementing Zanzibar’s national health security plan.
Key findings:
- Quarterly steering committee meetings, once irregular, became consistent and structured, with clearly defined leadership roles
- An online NAPHS tracking tool improved visibility into progress and gaps, replacing an offline system
- Stronger coordination helped mobilize approximately $2 million in additional partner funding for priority activities such as surveillance and rapid response training
- Mainland Tanzania counterparts expressed interest in adopting Zanzibar’s tracking approach
These findings demonstrate how strengthening one part of a country’s health security architecture, in this case multisectoral coordination, can produce cascading gains in monitoring and financing.
