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Tanzania

Key messages for primary care practitioners

  • If the patient is new to the UK explain to them how the NHS operates and discuss how this compares to the healthcare system they've been used to.
  • Screen all new entrants (including children) from this country for TB.
  • All patients from this country should be offered and recommended an HIV test.
  • Sexually active individuals should be offered a full sexual health screen and safer sex health promotion advice.
  • This country has an intermediate prevalence of hepatitis B. Consider screening for hepatitis B, particularly among those who have recently arrived.
  • There is a high risk of malaria in this country.
  • Ensure all patients are up to date with the UK immunisation schedule.  
  • There is a high risk of anaemia in people from this country. Be alert to this possibility in recently arrived migrants, particularly for women and pre-school children, and test as clinically indicated.
  • Consider vitamin D deficiency in individuals who may be at risk as a result of their diet, skin colour or lack of sun exposure.
  • There is a high risk of vitamin A deficiency in this country.

Key Facts

Tanzania map

Map courtesy of
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency

Country profiles

For a summary of key health indicators and health care

WHO United Republic of Tanzania [external link]

For background information on the country, its government and its people please see

BBC United Republic of Tanzania [external link]

and

World Factbook United Republic of Tanzania [external link]

Languages*

Kiswahili or Swahili (official), Kiunguja (name for Swahili in Zanzibar), English (official, primary language of commerce, administration, and higher education), Arabic (widely spoken in Zanzibar), many local languages. Note: Kiswahili (Swahili) is the mother tongue of the Bantu people living in Zanzibar and nearby coastal Tanzania; although Kiswahili is Bantu in structure and origin, its vocabulary draws on a variety of sources including Arabic and English; it has become the lingua franca of central and eastern Africa; the first language of most people is one of the local languages

See language interpretation

Religions

Mainland - Christian 30%, Muslim 35%, indigenous beliefs 35%; Zanzibar - more than 99% Muslim

 

Migration to the UK

At the time of the 2001 Census there were over 30,000 people from this country living in the UK. There is a long history of migration to the UK from this country. Migrants from this country who are currently living in UK have arrived since the early 1900s.

 

*Source: World Factbook

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