Find Health and Medical expertise in Mozambique

Mozambique’s health services is split into four levels. The primary level consists of health posts, mobile services and rural health centres, which carry out basic health services of both a curative and preventative nature. The secondary level consists of rural and general hospitals, only some of which are able to provide surgical services. The tertiary level includes the provincial hospitals that are able to offer diagnostic facilities and specialist services, while the quaternary level includes the three central hospitals in Maputo, Beira and Nampula. With little local pharmaceutical manufacturing, pharmaceuticals are a major import. Some antiretrovirals are produced in Mozambique. MEDIMOC is the key organisation contracted by the government to import pharmaceuticals for the country’s national health sector.

Patients are often faced with out-of-pocket payments for medical treatment, which puts it beyond the reach of many poor Mozambicans. In addition to this, many people live a significant distance from the nearest health care centres, and lack of good roads and transport make it difficult for them to access treatment. There is also a shortage of medical staff and hospital beds.

A 2013 joint report by United Nations in Mozambique and the Foundation for Community Development, entitled Post-2015 Development Agenda National Consultation Country Report – Voices and Perceptions from Groups and Organizations in Mozambique, identified several key issues requiring attention in the country’s post-2015 development agenda. These included improving access to high-quality health services nationwide; improving health services for women in rural areas; increasing standards of reproductive health for girls and women; and promoting the preservation of the sexual and reproductive rights of women.

Mozambique’s Health Sector Strategic Plan 2014–19 comprises seven strategic objectives, based on the principles of primary health care, equity and improving the quality of services. The plan looks to increase access and utilisation of health services; improve the quality of service provision; reduce geographic inequities between different population groups in accessing and utilising health services; improve efficiency of service provision and resource utilisation; strengthen partnerships for health; increase transparency and accountability on management of public goods; and strengthen the health system.

Communicable and non-communicable diseases

Communicable diseases along with maternal, perinatal and nutritional conditions in Mozambique accounted for an estimated 66% of all mortality in 2012. The prevalence of HIV in Mozambique, as a percentage of people aged 15–49 years, was 10.6% in 2014. The HIV prevalence rate in Mozambique has significantly increased overall since 1990; however, the country has experienced a slight reduction per year since 2009. There were 1,813,984 reported cases of malaria in 2012. Although the number of confirmed cases of malaria rose between 2007 and 2012, the numbers of deaths from malaria saw a gradual and consistent decline over the same time period. There has been a gradual rise in estimated incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in the period 1990–2013 and estimated mortality (when mortality data excludes cases comorbid with HIV) from the disease has also seen an overall increase in this time. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) accounted for an estimated 23% of all mortality in Mozambique in 2012. The most prevalent NCDs in Mozambique are cardiovascular diseases, which accounted for 7% of total deaths across all age groups in 2012. Cancers, non-communicable variants of respiratory diseases and diabetes contributed 4%, 2% and 1% to total mortality, respectively (2012).

Government expenditure

Less than half of health care in Mozambique (44%) was government funded in 2012. The remaining 56% was paid for by patients or funded by other non-governmental entities, such as private insurers, charities or employers. Total health expenditure constituted 6.4% of GDP in 2012.

In 2013 government expenditure on health was 3.1% of GDP. In the most recent survey, conducted between 1997 and 2010, there were 4 doctors, and 41 nurses and midwives per 100,000 people. Additionally, in 2011, 54% of births were attended by qualified health staff and in 2013, 85% of one-year-olds were immunised with a dose of measles. In 2014, 51% of people were using an improved drinking water source and 20% had access to adequate sanitation facilities. The most recent survey, conducted in the period 2000–11, reports that Mozambique has four pharmaceutical personnel per 100,000 people.

Mozambique is not a signatory to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the covenant that commits signees to ensuring ‘the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health’.

Health and Medical organisations in Mozambique
Associated Medical Ltd
Boane Pharmacy
Central Beira Hospital
Central Hospital of Maputo
Central Hospital of Nampula
Directorate of Health of the City of Maputo
District Hospital of Mabote
Doctor Sandra Mavale
Egefar
General Hospital in the Machava
General Hospital of Chamanculo
Health Center of the Port of Maputo
Hospital Carmelo
Jaipur Orthopaedic Center
Khovo Medical Center Ltd
L&P Medical Offices
Maputo Optics and Services Ltd
Medical Center Atlântis
Medifarma Ltd
MEDIMOC - Empresa Estatal de Importacao e Exportacao de Medicamentos
Medis Pharmaceuticals Ltd
Ministry of Health
Oceanpath Mozambique Ltd
Optical Millennium Ltd
Our Pharmacy
Pharmaceutical EE
Pharmacy Charles Lwanga
Pharmacy Express
Pharmacy Roundabout
Primary Health Center Masana
Regional Center for Sanitary Development
Rela Pharmacy Ltd
State Company for Import and Export of Medicinal Products
Trauma Centre Hospital
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