MAISHA: Strengthening Precision Mental Health Among Young People in Tanzania: A Mixed-Methods Study

In Tanzania, the Africa Academy for Public Health (AAPH), in collaboration with the University of Dodoma (UDOM), is implementing a three-phase research project with participants from Tambaza High School, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), and Don Bosco Youth Centre, Upanga.

Phase one includes participatory workshops using storytelling, focus groups, and surveys to explore emotion regulation. Phase two features a two-week test of the hybrid training, collecting user feedback. Phase three comprises co-design workshops to refine and prototype the final intervention.

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Initiative on The Future of Health and Economic Resiliency in Africa (FHERA)

The project focuses on addressing key priorities and challenges in food systems across the African continent to promote better nutrition and health outcomes. It aims to increase the availability and affordability of healthy diets, reduce food loss and waste, analyze policies related to taxation and regulation, and optimize food systems to address the triple burden of disease.

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Harnessing Longitudinal Data and Digital Technologies to Improve Adolescent Health in Dar es Salaam

Approximately 1200 participants were enrolled and participated in two rounds of survey. Following the baseline assessment, participants received regular SMS focusing on nutrition, exercise, and healthy lifestyle.

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BEING Young People's Mental Health Initiative

In this project we adopted the relational wellbeing approach to understand young people’s mental health in Tanzania and Ghana, two among 13 priority countries in LMICs. Through desk review of existing mental health data as well as grey literature we were able to identify the burden of mental health issues in Tanzania and Ghana.

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COMPASS Adolescent Health Interventions Co-designing and Piloting

This project has employed a human cantered design by involving various groups of stakeholders such as parents, teachers, food vendors and most importantly, adolescents themselves in the design of project interventions. This will result in any developed intervention to have lasting sustainable impact in the community as it encompasses community views and contexts from the development stage. The project team is excited for the upcoming steps of the project which will include developing and testing the whole school digital intervention within the 2 sampled schools in Dar es Salaam.

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The ARISE - NUTRINT Project

The project spans seven SSA countries, focusing on understanding health behaviours, co-designing interventions, and evaluating their impact and cost-effectiveness.

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Low Dose Calcium Trial: Secondary Analyses to Inform Pre-Eclampsia Definitions

The project aims to address critical gaps in understanding preeclampsia phenotypes and the cost-effectiveness of calcium supplementation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) like India and Tanzania.

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Iron in Multiple Micronutrients Supplementation for Anemia Prevention in Africa

The project focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of Antenatal Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS) containing varying doses of iron in reducing maternal anaemia. Specifically, the project aims to assess the impact of MMS formulations with 60 mg or 45 mg of iron compared to the standard MMS containing 30 mg of iron on maternal anaemia during third trimester of pregnancy and other maternal and infant health indicators.

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Family Planning and Nutrition Services in Tanzania: A Policy and Programmatic Review

This approach aims to gather insights into the perspectives on the benefits, challenges, barriers, and opportunities related to the integration of family planning and nutrition services. Thematic analysis will be employed to interpret patterns and themes identified in the qualitative data, leading to the development of a narrative that captures the essence of the findings.

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Lower Dose Calcium Supplementation During Pregnancy for Reducing Pre-Eclampsia and Neonatal Outcomes

The project aimed to address the significant health burden posed by hypertensive disorders during pregnancy in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly in Tanzania. Calcium supplementation during pregnancy reduces the risk of preeclampsia by more than 50%, and that of preterm births by about 25%. As a result, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends calcium supplementation during pregnancy (1500 – 2000 mg/day) for population with low dietary calcium intake. Despite the proven efficacy and WHO recommendation, calcium supplementation is not standard of antenatal care in most LMICs mainly due high cost of the supplements and complexity of the suggested dosing schedule. This study in Tanzania sought to generate evidence on the potential non-inferiority of a lower dose of calcium (500 mg) compared to the WHO-recommended dose (1500 mg) in preventing preeclampsia and preterm birth, while also assessing the acceptability and adherence to the WHO recommended dose.

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