Background benefits from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF),

rural poor in Sub-Saharan African countries is one of the greatest challenges facing governments and other de-velopment partners. In Tanzania, health care is primarily financed through government taxation and donor sup-port. Other financing mechanisms include the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), social health insurance private health insurance, user fees (out of payment expenditures) and the Community Health Fund (CHF) [1,2]. The Tanzanian health financing system and its mechanisms are addressed in detail in various govern-ment documents, such as the CHF Act 2001, the Health Sector Strategic Plan (HSSP) III 2009 – 2015 and the National Health Policy of 2007 [1,3,4]. The CHF Act of 2001 allows for community contributions in the health sector in order to achieve universal health coverage and * Correspondence