Maono Singida eye care project mid-term review

The Issue

The prevalence of bilateral blindness in Singida region, Tanzania, is estimated at 4.7% among people aged over 50. Women of the same age group are 40% more likely to be blind than men. Funded by Standard Chartered Bank’s ‘Seeing is Believing’ fund and Sightsavers unrestricted funds, Sightsavers began implementing the Maono Singida project to contribute to the sustainable provision of eye care services in April 2016; it is due to end in March 2020.

Tropical Health was commissioned to conduct a mid-term review to assess progress, identify successes and challenges, and make recommendations, with an in-depth review on three key lines of enquiry: gender, advocacy and community awareness, and technical support to health financing.

Our Approach

Tropical Health used qualitative methods, such as key informant interviews with staff, government and health care workers and NGO partners, and focus group discussions with health workers, service recipients, community leaders and women’s groups. These were supported by document review and the analysis of existing quantitative data, plus primary data collection.

Tropical Health delivered a comprehensive analysis of progress toward objectives, focused on seven review questions and three lines of inquiry. The report included a set of 16 concrete recommendations ranked in terms of priority, to help the project reach its goals in the second half as well as inform future programming.

Our Findings

Tropical Health found that more than half of the Maona Singida project’s output indicators were either “on track” or have “met or exceeded” the 2020 targets. In terms of the gender lines of inquiry, the project is making good progress in reaching the eye care needs of women, though barriers to accessing care remain. In terms of advocacy, the project achieved strong engagement of local government but not full ownership, while regarding community awareness on eye health, the project made progress using multiple channels and platforms as well as training stakeholders. Technical support resulted in a sustainability plan regarding health financing that is realistic, timely, and in line with regional health plans.