Female Genital Mutilation Practices in Tanzania – Elimination is Possible

Female genital mutilation (FGM) is a significant public health and human rights concern that affects millions of girls and women worldwide. Globally, FGM is mostly concentrated in 30 countries, including in Africa and some countries in Asia and the Middle East (WHO 2016). Although tremendous efforts have been made by the Tanzanian government and communities to reduce FGM from a prevalence of 18% in 1996 to 8% in 2022 (TDHS FGM 2022, UNICEF FGM 2016), Tanzania still has the second highest prevalence of FGM in Africa. This slow progress to decrease FGM warrants more discussion across the global community.

Dr. Neema M. Kayange, MD, MMed, MSc is a Tanzanian pediatrician and clinical epidemiologist, with more than 13 years of experience working on pediatric infectious diseases. She currently works at the Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS)– Bugando, and its sister institution, the University Hospital Bugando Medical Center – Mwanza in Tanzania. Aligned with her commitment to human rights and the elimination of FGM, Dr. Kayange is a member of the CUHAS-Bugando Gender, Harassment and Discrimination Committee, where she and her colleagues developed a Gender, Harassment and Discrimination University Policy which was implemented across the CUHAS-Bugando community. Dr. Kayange is a Visiting Instructor in the Stanford Department of Pediatrics and one of 24 African physicians competitively selected for the Stanford African Scholars in Global Health (SASH) program in 2025. Led by the Stanford Center for Innovation in Global Health, SASH aims to promote health equity, capacity-strengthening, and unique focused learning between African medical institutions and Stanford.