Revision of National ANC Guidelines: (Workshop)

We are honoured to have been invited by the Ministry of Health to participate in the strategic workshop to revise the      National Antenatal Care (ANC) Guidelines, scheduled for 13–16 April 2026 in Morogoro.      PHIT has been invited because of our pioneering role in implementing and evaluating      Group Antenatal Care (G-ANC) within routine public health systems in Tanzania.      Our recently published implementation study in Geita Region – a registry-based cohort of nearly 6,000 women –      demonstrated that G-ANC is feasible and associated with high ANC4+ completion (93.9%), strong uptake of IPTp3+      (76.1%), iron‑folate supplementation (92.6%), and facility delivery (96.2%),      while also significantly reducing adverse birth outcomes (aOR 0.122). These real-world findings provide critical      evidence for updating national protocols to align with WHO’s eight-contact model and woman-centred care.

We are delighted to share our experience and expertise at the workshop. Drawing from our mixed‑methods research, including a      qualitative study published in PLOS ONE that captured positive perspectives from women, healthcare providers, and health      managers, we will contribute actionable insights on G-ANC’s acceptability, efficiency gains      (e.g., group education reducing provider workload), and integration challenges such as space constraints, early      initiation barriers, and male engagement. Our team can offer practical guidance on adapting G-ANC to low-resource settings,      training facilitators, and designing scalable, equitable models that strengthen routine ANC without compromising quality.      We look forward to collaborating with stakeholders to ensure the revised guidelines reflect the best available local evidence.