The United Nations marks International Day of Older Persons on October 1 each year. Its 2026 theme — ‘The Age of Longevity: Rethinking Systems for Longer Lives’ — is particularly relevant here, because it asks how social systems can support dignity, independence and quality of life as people live longer.
More Tanzanians are reaching older age, a welcome achievement that also brings new health and social-care needs. Tanzania’s National Strategy for the Provision of Health Services to Older People projects that older people could make up 11 per cent of the population by 2050.
As that number grows, more people will need support with chronic conditions, functional changes and age-related health needs. The question is whether everyone will be able to access quality care when they need it.
The government has already set out an important framework in its 2021–2030 strategy, which calls for care at community, primary, secondary and tertiary levels, trained staff and geriatric units.
Private funders can support medical schools with scholarships, loan repayment and grants that encourage specialisation in geriatrics, while health-training institutions can build geriatric care into required curricula.
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Geriatric care should become part of routine health care, not an afterthought. Primary-healthcare workers need the skills to recognise common geriatric syndromes and functional problems, and to respond before a difficulty becomes a crisis.
Care that sees the person
Geriatric care is multidisciplinary. Doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nutritionists, mental-health professionals, social-welfare officers and community health workers all have roles in integrated care for older people.
Care must also be closer to where older people live. Services concentrated in major cities or referral hospitals cannot adequately serve everyone, especially people in rural communities who face transport costs, distance, mobility barriers or dependence on relatives to reach a facility.
For some, travelling several hours to see a specialist is not realistic. The national strategy recognises services from households and communities through first-line facilities to hospitals.
Families remain central to care in Tanzania. That social strength should be supported, not taken for granted, because family caregivers may provide transport, manage medicines, help with personal care and meals, supervise daily routines and offer emotional support.
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Tanzania should develop multidisciplinary geriatric centres in strategically selected hospitals and communities. Such centres could bring health professionals together for comprehensive assessment and care, while also serving as hubs for training, research, rehabilitation, caregiver education and community outreach.
Skills and support
Research must be part of the infrastructure for geriatric care. It should examine falls and fear of falling, as well as mobility, nutrition, cognition, depressive symptoms, sensory loss, urinary incontinence and caregiver support, frailty, dementia, delirium, functional limitations, medication safety, rehabilitation needs and end-of-life care.
Financing must follow the needs of an ageing population. Insurance and health-financing arrangements should support appropriate care across primary care, outpatient services, rehabilitation, home-based care, telehealth where it is useful and long-term care; they should not be designed only around an acute hospital episode.
Older people often need coordinated support over time, not a single consultation. Investing in prevention and functional independence can help people remain active in their families and communities, which is the person-centred approach promoted by the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing.
As the population ages, Tanzania has a choice about how to prepare for this transformation. The demographic change is already underway. The time to build a health system that supports longer lives is not some distant future. It is now.
Joseph Trinitas is a Family Nurse Practitioner and Faculty at KCMC University with over ten years of experience caring for older adults. His research focuses on healthy ageing, falls, and fear of falling among older adults in Tanzania. The opinions expressed here are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of The Chanzo. If you are interested in publishing in this space, please contact our editors at editor@thechanzo.com.
