A LESSON IN PRACTICALITIES: PROVISION AND DELIVERY OF HEALTH TO WOMEN IN THE TANZANIAN INFORMAL SECTOR VIA THE NATIONAL SOCIAL SECURITY FUND (NSSF)

Abstract

Women in Tanzania’s informal sector, a large proportion of the population, remain without health insurance in breach of their right to enjoy such protection in terms of local, regional and international HR instruments which are binding upon Tanzania. In this dissertation, the writer, an employee of the government-run scheme, NSSF, tentatively explores possible areas of extensive research that will need to be conducted before attempting to extend the operation of the Fund (which currently only covers those employed in the formal sector) to benefit these poor women, who find the escalating cost of health (in the wake of savage ESAP ‘reforms’) beyond their meagre means. He collects, analyses and presents his evidence using a combination of several gender-oriented methodologies (especially the Women’s Law Approach) matched with appropriate data collection methods which consistently focus upon the ‘lived realities’ of the affected women.