This Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is built on a strong and coordinated partnership between Keep a Child Alive, the Doris Mollel Foundation, and Tanzania’s public health system. Together, these partners are working to close the newborn survival gap and ensure that life-saving care reaches babies at the most critical moment of their lives.
Newborn mortality remains one of the most urgent and preventable global health challenges, particularly in low-resource settings. In many parts of rural Tanzania, families face long distances, limited facilities, and shortages of trained staff when newborns require urgent care. Every Life was created to address these challenges through collaboration, local leadership, and long-term system strengthening.
Keep a Child Alive: Funding, expertise, and long-term vision
Keep a Child Alive leads the global fundraising and technical support for Every Life. Through this initiative, KCA mobilizes the resources needed to establish and sustain high-quality neonatal care where it is needed most.
KCA’s role includes:
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Fundraising to support the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
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Providing essential medical equipment and technology.
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Supporting the training and ongoing capacity-building of healthcare staff.
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Developing and implementing clinical protocols aligned with international standards.
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Supplying critical medications and medical consumables.
By combining funding with technical expertise, KCA helps ensure that the unit operates safely and effectively over time, not only at launch but throughout its life span. This approach is essential to building durable solutions that save lives year after year.
Doris Mollel Foundation: Local coordination and community connection
The Doris Mollel Foundation serves as the local partner responsible for coordinating implementation on the ground. With deep roots in the community and strong relationships with local stakeholders, DMF plays a critical role in turning vision into reality.
DMF’s responsibilities include:
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Coordinating day-to-day implementation at the hospital level.
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Working closely with healthcare workers and hospital leadership.
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Engaging local communities to build trust and awareness.
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Liaising with government authorities to ensure alignment with public health priorities.
This local leadership ensures that the initiative is culturally appropriate, responsive to real needs, and embedded in the community it serves.
The role of government: Ensuring continuity and integration
The Tanzanian government plays a key role in the long-term sustainability of the project. Through the public health system, the government ensures the continuity of the hospital wing dedicated to neonatal intensive care and integrates the unit into existing health services.
Government involvement helps ensure that:
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The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit remains part of the public healthcare system.
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Trained staff are retained and supported.
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Care continues beyond the initial project phase.
This integration is essential to ensuring that newborn survival improvements are lasting and scalable.
A shared commitment to every life
Together, Keep a Child Alive, the Doris Mollel Foundation, and the public health system are demonstrating what is possible when global resources, local leadership, and government commitment come together.
Every Life is not only about building a unit — it is about creating a sustainable model of care that gives newborns a chance to survive and thrive, supports families at the most vulnerable moment of life, and strengthens health systems for the future.
Learn more about Every Life – A Newborn Survival Initiative and how to support the project here:
👉 https://www.keepachildalive.org/every-life-a-newborn-survival-initiative/
