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Health sector decentralisation in Tanzania: How do institutional capacities influence use of decision space?

While decentralisation of health systems has dominated political arena in the low-income and middle-income countries since the 1970s, there is scarcity of studies on how organisational capacities influence the ability of the decentralised local-level officials to use the available decision space. Using qualitative approach through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions in 4 districts in Tanzania, this study explored how organisational capacities influence the use of decision space available in the 5 broad categories namely planning, finance, human resources, service organisation, and governance. The findings of the study indicated that while the district health managers had authority in many health system functional areas, limited capacity of the local government in financial resources highly affected their capacity to make use of the available decision space. In addition, while the district health managers had skills, knowledge, and experiences in preparing district health plans, health facilities and community representatives had limited capacity. Most of the health facilities had critical shortage of skilled health providers. Similarly, health committees had limited capacity in knowledge and skills. This study concludes that decentralisation will only improve delivery of health services when an appropriate degree of discretion is combined with adequate institutional capacities to enable exercise of those authorities. The district councils and the Ministry of Health should strengthen the capacities of health service providers and members of health committees and boards.