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Geospatial analysis of regional variations in antibiotic consumption in Tanzania from 2020 to 2024 using the electronic logistics management information system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 February 2026

William Reuben
Affiliation:
Department of Health, Social Development and Nutrition, President’s Office, Regional Administration and Local Government, Dodoma, Tanzania
Florah Boniface Makenya
Affiliation:
School of Nursing and Public Health, University of Dodoma, Dodoma, Tanzania
Raphael Zozimus Sangeda*
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Daudi Ignasy Msasi
Affiliation:
Pharmaceutical Services Unit, Ministry of Health, Dodoma, Tanzania
Selesitine Ngoma
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health and Community Nursing, University of Dodoma, Dodoma, Tanzania
*
Corresponding author: Raphael Zozimus Sangeda; Email: sangeda@gmail.com

Abstract

Objective:

To quantify and map regional variations in antibiotic consumption across Tanzania using national supply-chain data to guide antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) priorities.

Design:

A retrospective facility-level analysis was conducted using antibiotic distribution data from the electronic Logistics Management Information System (eLMIS), covering the period from July 2020 to June 2024.

Setting:

Public healthcare facilities across Tanzania’s 26 administrative regions.

Methods:

Antibiotic consumption was standardized using the WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and expressed as defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID). Variations by region, facility level, and antibiotic class were analyzed descriptively and visualized through geospatial mapping. National trends and forecasts for 2025–2027 were modeled using autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and polynomial regression models.

Results:

A total of 1.63 million facility-level records were analyzed. National antibiotic consumption rose from 142.4 to 182.8 DID between 2020–2021 and 2023–2024 (a 28% increase). Dispensaries accounted for 71% of the total DID, underscoring the dominant role of primary-care facilities in antibiotic distribution. Dar es Salaam (37.9 DID), Ruvuma (34.5 DID), and Lindi (34.0 DID) recorded the highest cumulative consumption, whereas Katavi (13.7 DID) and Geita (15.4 DID) had the lowest. Access-category antibiotics comprised ≥60% of all consumption, Watch agents 35–40%, and Reserve agents ≤0.1%. Forecasting predicts continued national growth, reaching ≈ 215 DID by 2027 if current trends persist.

Conclusions:

Antibiotic consumption in Tanzania is concentrated in the coastal and southern regions. Geospatial analytics and digital supply chain enable targeted, data-driven stewardship interventions in resource-limited settings.

Information

Type
Original Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2026. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
Figure 0

Table 1. Annual antibiotic consumption and number of facility-level records, 2020–2024

Figure 1

Table 2. Cumulative sum of antibiotic distribution (DID) by customer level (Facility type), 2020–2024

Figure 2

Figure 1. Regional antibiotic distribution in Tanzania (2020–2024). Cumulative antibiotic distribution across 26 regions, expressed as total defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID), based on facility-level supply data from the eLMIS. Geographic boundaries were derived from administrative level 1 (ADM1) shapefiles provided by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Tanzania website https://www.nbs.go.tz/statistics/topic/gis, which is openly available under the CC-BY 4.0 license.

Figure 3

Figure 2. Top 10 antibiotics by defined daily doses (DDD per 1,000 inhabitants per day), Tanzania, 2020–2024. Bars represent cumulative antibiotic distribution (DID) by molecule; the overlaid line and points indicate the cumulative percentage contribution. Bar colors denote D50 membership (≤50% cumulative for each rank). The complete list is provided in Supplementary Table 2.

Figure 4

Figure 3. AWaRe distribution by year, Tanzania, 2020–2024. Each pie chart depicts the annual share of antibiotic consumption (DID) in the AWaRe category. Colors: access (green), watch (orange), reserve (red), not classified (gray), unknown (light gray).

Figure 5

Figure 4. Dosage-form distribution of annual antibiotic consumption, Tanzania, 2020–2024. Stacked bars show the proportion (%) of the total defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID) by dosage form for each study year.

Figure 6

Figure 5. ATC level 3 distribution of cumulative antibiotic consumption, Tanzania, 2020–2024.horizontal bars display the total defined daily doses per 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID) by therapeutic class, with labels showing absolute values.

Figure 7

Figure 6. Forecast of national antibiotic consumption, Tanzania, 2020–2027. Observed and projected national antibiotic consumption (in DID) from 2020 to 2021 to 2026–2027. The solid line represents the observed values (2020–2024), whereas the dashed line and shaded band show polynomial forecasted values with 95% confidence intervals. The projection indicates a continuing upward trend through 2027, reaching approximately 215 DID.

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