BACKGROUND
The government of Mozambique has committed to improving maternal, neonatal, and child health (MNCH) and there has been progress in expanding the network of health facilities.  This has resulted in increased coverage and provision of lifesaving MNCH services. However, the expansion in network and coverage has not consistently yielded improvements in actual health outcomes. Nampula, Mozambique’s largest and most populous province, has some of the worst statistics surrounding maternal, neonatal and child mortality. 

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Alcançar aims to address the problems in Nampula and allow the government of Mozambique to take lessons learned during the 5-year project and apply them throughout the country.   It works with the Nampula provincial health directorate, district health directorates and community healthcare providers to build individual and organizational capacity that will improve care quality and efficiency.  The activity complements efforts of other USAID-supported activities in Nampula, such as the Integrated Family Planning Project, Transform Nutrition, Last Mile Supply Chain Project, a government-to-government agreement, and various malaria activities.  Alcançar provides support at the central level by embedding technical advisors in the Ministry of Health.  It also provides technical support to local health service providers, district health management teams and the Nampula Health Directorate and strengthens linkages between communities and health facilities. 

EXPECTED RESULTS AND IMPACTS
This activity will support the Government of the Republic of Mozambique to prevent maternal, neonatal, and child mortality in 23 districts of the province of Nampula. More specifically:  

  • Linkages between communities and health facilities will be strengthened;
  • Quality of routine Maternal, Neonatal and Child health will be improved;
  • GRM management of health resources and systems at facility, district and provincial levels will be improved;
  • GRM capacity for quality improvement and patient-centered care of health services improved.