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Over the past ten years, Mozambique has achieved significant progress in improving the overall health of its citizens by providing better health care services. However, many daunting challenges remain. Life expectancy in Mozambique has declined to 41 years, primarily due to the impact of preventable and treatable diseases like malaria, HIV/AIDS, and tuberculosis. Mozambique also suffers from a dire shortage of health care personnel. To combat these issues, USAID is working to improve the health of Mozambicans by preventing and treating major infectious diseases, improving maternal and child health, and training community health workers from the Ministry of Health at provincial and local health centers to strengthen the Mozambican health care system.
Improve the Health of Mothers and Children
While there has been improvement in infant and child mortality rates over the past decade, approximately one out of every 10 children will die before their first birthday. People in rural areas are particularly affected because they live out of the reach of local health clinics or simply do not know how to maintain their health. USAID trains and supports community-based health workers who live in rural areas and encourage families to seek health care, such as vaccinations and vitamin supplements for infants, and regular checkups for pregnant women. Community health workers also provide treatment for diarrhea and malaria, as well as family planning counseling and reproductive health services.
Prevent and Treat Major Infectious Diseases
In addition to HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis pose a major threat to the overall health of Mozambicans and have contributed to the decline in life expectancy. These deadly diseases are also preventable and are able to be treated. In coordination with the President’s Malaria Initiative, USAID is aiming to cut malaria deaths in half by 2010. USAID supports programs that distribute insecticide-treated mosquito nets to families living in areas with a high prevalence of malaria and spray inside homes to prevent mosquitoes from transmitting the disease. We also work with the Government of Mozambique to detect and diagnose tuberculosis. When malaria or tuberculosis is found, USAID programs ensure that patients receive prompt treatment and medication to fight the infection and regain their health.
Strengthen the Health Care System
Mozambique has improved its ability to provide health care to its citizens, but 40% of the population does not have access to these services. In addition, there are only 3 doctors and 21 nurses for every 100,000 people in Mozambique—that means there are approximately 600 doctors for the entire country. USAID is committed to helping the Government of Mozambique to strengthen its health care system by training new health professionals at all levels, building new health care facilities, and improving the government’s ability to manage these systems. Expanding the reach of the current system is essential to achieve our goal of improving the overall health of Mozambicans.
Impact
- Over the past five years, community health workers have connected nearly 3 million women and children with vitamin A supplements to improve their nutrition and health.
- Each year, USAID distributes one million insecticide-treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria.
- 90 percent of rural leadership councils in four target provinces now have a trained community health worker.
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