State and persons with disability in Tanzania: impacts of cost sharing in vocational rehabilitation training

Realizing the importance of vocational (functional)
skills for enhancement of independent living for persons
with disability in the society, many countries in the world
have established vocational rehabilitation training to meet
such need. And to ensure access to all eligible persons,
many of these countries have been providing the services
free of charge.
In Tanzania, also, vocational rehabilitation training
for the concerned persons was provided freely from the time
of its inception in 1953 up to 1986 when cost sharing was
introduced. The giving of free social services was
possible because then the economy was doing well.
Unfortunately, the period from late 1970s to early 1980s
saw Tanzania falling into a stiff socio-economic crisis.
As there were no signs of early recovery Tanzania devised
various strategies in an attempt to alleviate the crisis.
Cutbacks of government allocation on social services like
education (including vocational training), health, water,
etc, and introduction of cost sharing to the beneficiaries
of the services were to prevent the deteriorating service
from total collapse.
While such measures were necessary, they had a
negative impact on the persons with disability who are
perhaps the most marginalized and economically hardest hit