Geographical Locations - Mozambique

• (Statistical) Number of Inhabitants per Doctor: 43,536
• CIA World Factbook : Mozambique

Organisations and Networks

UN and Multinational

• WHO
  - WHO Country Profile - Mozambique
  - WHO - Tobacco control: Country Profile - Mozambique
  - WHO - Environmental Burden of Disease: Country Profile – Mozambique
  - WHO – Malaria Country Profile – Mozambique
• UNDP in Mozambique
• UN System in Mozambique

Government

Non-Government

• Care in Mozambique
• MSF - Médecins Sans Frontières in Mozambique
• USAID in Mozambique

Academic Institutions

National Policy and Related Documents

Reports, Guidelines, and Projects

• Improving Health for the Poor in Mozambique: The Fight Continues
  The health sector in Mozambique has made significant progress in terms of increasing coverage of services. However, health remains a major concern in the area of poverty reduction. The study describes the health status of the population, especially of the poor, and how the sector responds to the needs. Huge inequalities continue to exist with regards to resource allocation, deployment of staff and availability of services among various geographic areas, between the urban and rural population, and between the poor and the non-poor. The study builds upon the existing studies on health and consolidates the sector knowledge. Based on the analysis, the study makes various recommendations on how the health sector reforms can be made more pro-poor by focusing on certain interventions, by targeting certain areas and population groups, by designing new delivery models that would bring the services closer to the population, and by improving financial management to serve the poor more effectively. [author abstract] [Health, Nutrition, and Population Family (HNP) of the World Bank’s Human Development Network – HNP Discussion Paper, February 2002]
• Integrating TB and HIV Care in Mozambique: Lessons from an HIV Clinic in Beira
  "Mozambique ranks among the top ten nations in the world in terms of the number of people living with HIV/AIDS, with an estimated 1,300,000 people infected with HIV in 2003... Mozambique also ranks among the 20 highest tuberculosis (TB) burden countries in the world, with an estimated 81,000 cases and an incidence rate of 436 per 100,000 people in 2002. The incidence of TB has been steadily growing over the last 10 years largely due to the high prevalence of HIV; an estimated 47% of adult TB cases are estimated to be HIV-positive... In sub-Saharan Africa, TB is felt to be the most commonly diagnosed opportunistic infection, and it is also the most frequent cause of death among those infected with HIV... This paper describes one strategy of integrating TB and HIV care during the development of a new MOH HIV treatment center in Beira city, Mozambique."
• Pilfering for Survivial: How Medical Workers Use Access to Drugs as a Coping Strategy
  Published in Biomed Central's Human Resources for Health 28 April 2004, this article describes a study into the pilfering of drugs by health workers in Mozambique and Cape Verde.
• Prevalence and Predictors of Maternal Peripheral Malaria Parasitemia in Central Mozambique
  Malaria infection during pregnancy (MiP) is heterogeneously distributed even in malaria-endemic countries. Program planners require data to facilitate identification of highest-priority populations for MiP control. Using data from two cross-sectional studies of 5,528 pregnant women in 8 neighboring sites in Mozambique, we described factors associated with maternal peripheral parasitemia by using logistic regression. Principal multivariate predictors of maternal peripheral parasitemia were gravidity (odds ratio [OR] – 2.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] – 1.60–3.26 for primigravidae and OR – 1.61, 95% CI – 1.29–2.01 for secundigravidae compared with gravidity – 3); age (OR – 0.96 per year, 95% CI–0.94–0.99); study site (OR–1.45, 95% CI–1.34–1.56 to 5.32, 95% CI–4.92–5.75) for comparison with the reference site; and no maternal education (OR – 1.38, 95% CI – 1.15–1.66) compared with any education. Other predictors (in subgroups) were bed net use (OR – 0.49, 95% CI – 0.48–0.50); preventive sulfadoxinepyrimethamine doses (OR – 0.25, 95% CI – 0.24–0.25); and infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (OR – 1.49, 95% CI – 1.11–2.00). Programmatic priorities should respond to heterogeneous distribution of multiple risk factors, including prevalence of malaria and infection with HIV, and maternal socioeconomic status. [author abstract] [American Journal of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, 77(2), 2007, pp. 228–234]
• Public Health and Pandemics in Mozambique
  "The priorities of our leadership are centered in the following domains: Malaria; HIV and AIDS; Tuberculosis related to HIV and AIDS; Maternal Mortality (hemorrhages, infections after baby delivery, abortion e hypertension in pregnancy; Neonatal and Infant Mortality (diarrhoeal diseases and breathing infections); Low weight at birth; Underfeeding; Cholera; and Sanitation." [The Republic of Mozambique, the Office of the First Lady of the Republic of Mozambique, Brussels, 26 June 2009]
• Seven years of regional malaria control collaboration — Mozambique, South Africa, and Swaziland
  The Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative is a joint development program between the governments of Mozambique, Swaziland, and South Africa, which includes malaria control as a core component of the initiative. Vector control through indoor residual spraying (IRS) was incrementally introduced in southern Mozambique between November 2000 and February 2004. Surveillance to monitor its impact was conducted by annual cross-sectional surveys to assess the prevalence of Plasmodium falciparum infection, entomologic monitoring, and malaria case notification in neighboring South Africa and Swaziland. In southern Mozambique, there was a significant reduction in P. falciparum prevalence after the implementation of IRS, with an overall relative risk of 0.74 for each intervention year (P < 0.001), ranging from 0.66 after the first year to 0.93 after the fifth intervention year. Substantial reductions in notified malaria cases were reported in South Africa and Swaziland over the same period. The success of the program in reducing malaria transmission throughout the target area provides a strong argument for investment in regional malaria control. [author abstract] [American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 76(1), 2007, pp. 42–47]
• Universal Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS: Mozambique Progress Report for the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV and AIDS – 2006-2007
  "HIV prevalence among adults in Mozambique is estimated based on the results of HIV sentinel surveillance carried out among pregnant women attending antenatal consultations. Surveillance began in 1988 at a sentinel site in Maputo City. During the 1990s, 5 additional sentinel sites were added, all in the central region of the country. In 2000, sentinel surveillance was broadened to a more representative number of 20 sentinel sites, one rural and one urban site in each province, and for the first time a national estimate was calculated. In 2001 an additional 16 sites were added, further increasing the representativeness of the surveillance carried out. A quarter of the 144 administrative districts in Mozambique posses sentinel sites (Centre – 16 sites; North -11 sites; South – 10 sites)… Sentinel surveillance in 2007 was carried out at the same 36 sites as in 2001, 2002 and 2004… National HIV prevalence is 16% (14%-17%) among adults aged 15-49 in 2007. National prevalence maintains a very similar prevalence curve to that observed in 2004 and has levelled off at unacceptably high rate of 16%."
• Violence against health personnel in some health care units in Maputo City
  "This report results from a research project on violence against health care providers in selected health care units in Maputo city… The research was carried out in the following health units in Maputo: Maputo Central Hospital; José Macamo General Hospital (including the health centre linked to the hospital), Mavalane General Hospital, Maputo Military Hospital and Bagamoyo Health Centre… The questionnaire was applied to health care providers and other health personnel (physicians, nurses, orderlies, technicians - health, pharmacy, laboratory -, administrative personnel) working in the health units selected for the study… The main objective of this work was to analyse the level of violence which existed in the hospitals of Maputo city, identifying the factors and forms of struggle or prevention of these events. The specific objectives defined were the following: Obtain information about the level of violence in Maputo health units; Gather knowledge about the mechanisms and procedure adopted by health personnel regarding violence problems; Evaluate the positive and negative impacts of the adopted mechanisms and study forms to reduce negative impacts; Understand the aspirations of the health care personnel and their coping strategies regarding the problems they have to face in their daily work; and Help the health care personnel in the struggle against violence." [International Labour Office (ILO), International Council of Nurses (ICN), World Health Organisation (WHO) and Public Services International (PSI): Joint Programme on Workplace Violence in the Health Sector, Geneva, 2003]
• Vitamin A deficiency and child mortality in Mozambique
  Background: In areas where vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is prevalent, vitamin A repletion reduces child mortality by 23% on average. Objectives: To estimate the potential child survival benefits of policies and programmes aimed at controlling VAD in Mozambique, and to make policy and programme recommendations. Methods: The potential contribution of VAD to child mortality in Mozambique was estimated by combining the observed VAD prevalence in the under-5s (71.2%), the measured child mortality effects of VAD (risk of death in children with VAD = 1.75 times higher than in children without VAD) and the observed under-5 mortality rate in the country (210 per 1000 live births). Results: In Mozambique, an estimated 2.3 million children below the age of 5 years are vitamin-A-deficient. In the absence of appropriate policy and programme action, VAD will be the attributable cause of over 30 000 deaths annually in the under-5s. This represents 34.8% of all-cause mortality in this age group. Discussion: Vitamin A supplementation (VAS) has been adopted as a short- to medium-term strategy to control VAD in children, and is integrated into routine child health services. However, the last VAS coverage survey showed that only 46% of children received a vitamin A supplement in the 6 months preceding the survey. If VAS coverage is to increase significantly in the foreseeable future, four areas appear to be of paramount importance: (1) reduce missed opportunities for VAS such as visits of sick children to child health services and community outreach activities; (2) take advantage of all potential opportunities for accelerating VAS coverage, such as additional vaccination campaigns and emergency response activities; (3) strengthen health workers’ training, supervision and monitoring skills; and (4) increase community demand for VAS of children. Biannual VAS, as the primary component of an integrated strategy for VAD control in children, has the promise to be among the most cost-effective/high-impact child survival interventions in Mozambique. [author abstract] [Public Health Nutrition, 2005: 8(1), 29–31.]

Educational Resources

• CDC - Travel Information : East Africa
• Southern African Research and Documentation Centre
  SARDC is an independent regional information centre involved in the collection, production and dissemination of information about the SARDC region, with offices in Harare, Maputo and Dar es Salaam; and network partners in all SARDC member states including Mozambique.
• UNAIDS/WHO Epidemiological Fact Sheet on HIV and AIDS: Core data on epidemiology and response – 2008 update – Mozambique
  Number of people living with HIV: 1 500 000; Adults aged 15 to 49 prevalence rate: 12.5%; Adults aged 15 and up living with HIV: 1 400 000; Women aged 15 and up living with HIV: 810 000; Children aged 0 to 14 living with HIV: 100 000; Deaths due to AIDS: 81 000; Orphans due to AIDS aged 0 to 17: 400 000.