Speeches Shim
Mozambique has shown significant improvements in health indicators and progress in maternal and child health over recent decades. However, despite substantial improvements in infant and child mortality rates, preventable maternal and child deaths continue to be unacceptably high in Mozambique. Neonatal complications or infection, malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia and HIV/AIDS account for more than 80 percent of all deaths of children under five in the country, with malnutrition as a contributing factor in 35 percent of children deaths.
The U.S. Bureau of the Census has an existing Interagency Agreement with USAID at the global level to provide technical assistance to National Statistical Organizations in the preparation, implementation, analysis and dissemination of national population and housing censuses.
Mozambique – ranked 170 of 188 countries on the Human Development Index – faces significant development challenges. The country is largely dependent on agriculture (mostly subsistence-based with small family farms) and is vulnerable to drought and natural disasters. 66% of the population live in rural areas, most live below the poverty line, and one-third is chronically food-insecure with high child stunting.
Mozambique– ranked in the bottom third of countries for health indicators – faces significant challenges in the health sector that impact TB diagnosis, treatment and outcomes. At the community level there is low awareness of TB symptoms, transmission, prevention and treatment. There is also stigma associated with the disease and its common co-infection HIV. Despite some recent progress at the facility level, significant gaps remain in terms of access to quality diagnosis, treatment and care.
Mozambique’s civil war led to an erosion of funding and support for the nation’s health system. Since its end in 1992, the health system has been improving, but the gains are not enough to effectively manage the significant health challenges facing the country. People are still dying due to lack of access to health services and low-quality care. In 2015, 40,000 deaths were reported from HIV/AIDS; and according to the Ministry of Health (MISAU), with a population of 26 million, Mozambique recorded over six million cases of malaria in 2015.
The prevalence of HIV in Mozambique is 12% among adults 15 to 49 years old with substantial variation in regional prevalence rates ranging from 25% to 3.7%. Mozambique’s HIV epidemic is driven by a complex combination of structural and social and behavioral factors that vary among sub-populations, including: low literacy rates (59%); poverty; low levels of male circumcision; insufficient access to HIV prevention, care, and treatment services; sexually transmitted infections; sexual violence; transactional sex; multiple concurrent partners; cultural practices, such as rites of passage; and gender imbalances.
Mozambique has made important progress in strengthening its pharmaceutical systems and improving access to life-saving medicines including antiretroviral therapy in recent years. A new medicines law, enacted by Parliament in 2017, created the National Directorate of Pharmacy (DNF), which is the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA).
Forca a Crianca e Comunidade (FCC) is a five-year cooperative agreement implemented by World Education and designed to provide education, social and economic strengthening to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Manica, Sofala and Zambezia. Food Security Innovations Lab, part of the BASIS-AMA consortium implemented by UC Davis in conjunction with other US-based universities, is completing a prospective independent impact evaluation of the FCC activity.
The Mozambique Integrated Malaria Program (IMaP) is a five-year USAID-funded project implemented by Chemonics International that will contribute to reducing malaria mortality, morbidity, and parasitemia in four high malaria burden provinces (Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Tete, and Zambézia).
High fertility rates presents a serious health threat in Mozambique, with the total fertility rate varying from 4 to 8 with an average of 6 children per woman (DHS 2011). According to the National Malaria and HIV Indicator Survey 2015 (IMASIDA), the modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) is 25% (34% urban and 22% rural) with a high demand for modern methods of 50% and unmet need of 23%. A total of 46% of adolescent girls are pregnant for the first time or already have one child, and in this group only 14% are using any contraception method.
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