CHF Iliyoboreshwa may be just one of many health insurance brands in Tanzania but it is increasingly becoming a household name for people of all walks of life in both rural and urban settings across the country.

“This is definitely not by accident, but because of the scheme’s affordability, portability and attractive benefit package”, said Elizeus Rwezaura, CHF Technical Advisor at HPSS project.

CHF Iliyoboreshwa entails that its members have access to all health services provided at all public health facilities from the local council level all the way to regional referral hospital.

Salvatory Masanja, a driver at Alistair James, a logistics company based in Dar es Salaam but transport cargo to different parts of the country and beyond is a proud member of CHF Iliyoboreshwa insurance scheme.

“CHF Iliyoboreshwa membership assures me of accessing health care at anytime and anywhere in the country without worrying about the high cost of treatment”, he said.

From early 2021, Alistair James Logistics Company has been paying CHF Iliyoboreshwa premiums for its 200 employees. The company is pleased with this government supported health initiative that ensures all citizens have access to quality healthcare regardless of their economic situations.

“Before we enrolled our employees into CHF health insurance scheme, we used to incur very high costs of medical care for them”, said Doris Nchimbi, Human Resource Officer at Alistair James Logistics Company.

On his part, Dr Hassan Suleiman, Medical Officer in charge at Frelimo hospital in Iringa, said the scheme has now made it easy for clients to access all services such as diagnosis, medical treatment and surgery available on referral basis from local dispensaries to regional referral hospitals.

“For instance, non-health insurance members have to pay out of pocket for health services. Sometimes it takes them so long to access treatment as they have first to look for money to pay the cost of treatment. Unfortunately, by the time they are attended to, their conditions will have worsened and become difficult to treat”, he said.

Because of its affordability and attractive benefit package, Lion Landscapes, an NGO that works to reduce human-carnivore conflict and investigate carnivore ecology in Tanzania’s Ruaha and Selous – Nyerere landscapes, supports communities from their project surrounding areas to enroll into CHF Iliyoboreshwa scheme as part of its corporate social responsibility.

“Since January 2021, we have been paying CHF Iliyoboreshwa premiums for at least 106 families per month from the surrounding villages as a token for their support to our project”, said Wistone Mkandamo, Operations Manager at Lion Landscapes project.

Zachariah Mduda, one of the beneficiaries from Kitisi, one of the 13 villages that surrounds Ruaha Landscapes project, said most of the families in his village are members of CHF Iliyoboreshwa and this guarantees them proper medical care whenever they need them.