WHO Regional Director Prof Janabi Opens Doris Mollel Foundation's and Tanzania's First Standard Neonatal Care Unit in Kwimba

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The Doris Mollel Foundation has officially launched Tanzania's first standard Neonatal Care Unit (NCU) at Kwimba District Hospital in Mwanza Region. The facility was inaugurated on February 28, 2026, with the WHO Regional Director for Africa, Professor Mohamed Yakub Janabi, serving as Guest of Honor.

"Kwimba is the answer to a question we have asked for too long: how do we reach the unreachable? Not with grand policy alone, but with district-level infrastructure that puts care where the mothers are. This facility is a blueprint for every rural community across Africa still waiting for its first NICU," said Prof. Janabi.

The Kwimba NCU has the capacity to care for 42 infants at a time and is projected to serve over 1,300 sick and low birth weight newborns annually. The facility also includes two staff houses to support continuous service delivery.

The unit introduces several distinctive features to neonatal care in Tanzania. Its layout was shaped with direct input from parents of premature babies, and it operates on a Zero Separation Care Model that keeps mothers and newborns together to enable continuous Kangaroo Mother Care and improve survival outcomes. The facility was also designed around the specific realities of how families in Kwimba live and access healthcare.

This project was made possible through the generous support of our partners: Keep A Child Alive, Jhpiego, and the DAMAC Foundation.

We extend our sincere gratitude to the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania through the Ministry of Health, the Prime Minister's Office for Regional Administration and Local Government (TAMISEMI), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, the Ministry of Community Development, Gender, Women, and Special Groups, Mwanza regional and local government authorities, the World Health Organization, and all development partners who joined us for the inauguration.