SCALLING UP THE
DELIVERY OF ITM IN
TANZANIA
SYTHESIS OF THE CURRENT SITUATION
Godfrey Bwana
Bagamoyo, 29th September, 2015

PRESENTATION LAY OUT
 INTRODUCTION
 TERMS OF REFERENCE
 RESULTS
 CONCLUSION
 RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction
 ECF immunisation in Tanzania started in early 1990s
 Estimated up to now about 700’000 cattle have been immunised
 Majority of these are the indigenous cattle
 Number of interventions in the control of Tick and Tick Borne Diseases have
taken place; including:-
 Compulsory dipping
 Mapping of tick distribution
 Dip construction and rehabilitation
 Free dipping programme and others..

TERMS OF REFERENCE
 Identify spread of Distributor and Vaccinators
 Find out how they were identified
 How were trained
 How they are Registered and Monitored
 Current Distribution Mechanism

RESULTS

Geographical Coverage

How they were identified
 Distributors- By Government and during the project time
 Vaccinators- Also were identified by government and distributors.
 Most of the Vaccinators are still Government employees
 Some of Distributors are engaged fully in veterinary service business

Training
 ITM Vaccination need specialized training not like any other vaccination.
 Distributors do training to their Vaccinators
 Curriculum is developed by the Distributor and ratified by Veterinary council
of Tanzania
 Certificate is issued by Distributors

Registration of Vaccinators
 It is a legal requirement for all Veterinary experts to be registered in Tanzania
 Custodian of registration is Veterinary Council of Tanzania; mandated by law
 Three levels exists depending on level of education
 Degree Holders
 Diploma Holders, and
 Certificate Holders
 However for ECF vaccination special training is needed before one is
registered as ECF Vaccinator.
 Over 3000 Veterinary experts have been registered so far; out of these , over
160 are registered as ECF vaccinators

Monitoring
 VCT has legal mandate to monitor all registered veterinarians on ethical
matters
 Monitoring of what is happening during ECF vaccination and after is not very
clear, hence gives room for non registered vaccinators to penetrate and
pollute the business
 Currently Vaccinators will give feed back to distributors, but nothing much is
reported at the district authorities

Distribution Mechanism
 One Local Technical Representative Available
 Two Distributors are available
 Distributors work with a network of Vaccinators
 Other actors are not much engaged in the distribution mechanism (monitoring
and feedback loop)

CTTBD
(PRODUCERS OF VACCINNE)
LOCAL TECHNICAL REPRESENTATIVE
DISTRIBUTOR 1 DISTRIBUTOR 2
VACCINATOR VACCINATORVACCINATOR VACCINATOR
LIVESTOCK KEEPERS LIVESTOCK KEEPERS
$$ $$
VA
CC
IN
E
VA
CCI
NE
$$ $$$$ $$
$$ $$ $$ $$
VA
CCI
NE
VA
CCI
NE
VA
CCI
NE
VA
CCI
NE
VA
CCI
NE
VA
CCI
NE
VA
CCI
NE
VA
CCI
NE

Other Actors
 Since ITM vaccination is a process, other actors more than distributors and
vaccinators are involved in the process. These are:
 Government
 Tanzania Veterinary Laboratory Agency (TVLA)
 Veterinary Council of Tanzania (VCT)
 Tanzania Food and Drug Authority (TFDA)

Constraints and Challenges
 Government
 Inadequate financial resources – hinders surveillance
 Weak monitoring system on effectiveness of therapeutic drugs & acaricides in the
field due to inadequate financial resources.
 Interference from institutional set up in controlling T &TBD (MLFD, PMO- RALG,
LGAs, and Farmers)
 Unregulated movements of livestock- this constraints control of T&TBD

Constraints and Challenges
 Distributors
 Reliable Power Supply- standby generators add to storage costs
 Storage- maintaining required temperature
 Antibiotics
 Access to liquid nitrogen( available in Iringa, Arusha, Mwanza, Dar and Kilimanjaro
 Price of Liquid Nitrogen

Constraints and Challenges
 Vaccinators
 Vaccination kits- some vaccinators do not have these kits, they need to be made
available and accessible (cost wise)
 Availability of Liquid Nitrogen ( if they have to keep stocks of the vaccine)- this
increase costs as they form part of storage costs
 Vaccinators who come from other area, and charge low price – which suggests
cheating and this brings the risk of losing confidence with the vaccine
 A critical mass is needed for the vaccination to be economically sustainable; the
critical mass can be attained through awareness campaigns

Constraints and Challenges
 Availability of Liquid Nitrogen (not readily available sometimes)
 Access and availability of Containers- to maintain quality and efficacy of the
vaccine, these should be made affordable, option of solar refrigerators
 Un ethical practices, some vaccinators, do not practice ethically- Tarnishes the
vaccine
 Actors are not well coordinated, this cause some greedy vaccinators to come in
and vaccinates

Constraints and Challenge
 Price and Pricing
 It is a challenge to both Vaccinators and Livestock keeper
 Livestock keepers- Too high (expensive) want it lowered
 Distributers/Vaccinators- low- does not cover costs
 Example of Costs (Vaccinator in Kiteto)
 (Fare TZS 32’000; Accommodation TZS 60’000; Price of LN (20lts) + 5% TZS 150’000;
transport of the cylinder TZS 30’000; and town commuting TZS 20’000. Increases holding
costs

Opportunities
 Farmers are motivated, inspite of some hic ups
 Markets exists (population in the regions)
 Existance of the ECF Strategic Plan at MLFD
 Supportive Legal and Regulatory Environment
 Willingness by the government to introduce the vaccine to new area

Recommendations
 Increase awareness for livestock keeper, and LGAs on economic benefits of
vaccination
 Tailor capacity building to vaccinators (Vaccination and Business Skills)
 Awareness Campaigns, to erase the distortion caused by fraudulent vaccinators
 Liberalize more the distribution and vaccination supply chain (increase the
number of distributors on competitive manner
 Streamline training of vaccinators (Training institutions take up training role
instead of Distributers. (Accredited Institutions should train and issue
certificates)