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Mozambique
Background
After gaining independence from Portugal in 1975, the southeast African country of Mozambique struggled with a 17-year civil war that crippled its economy and infrastructure. The 1992 peace accords sparked significant advancement, as Mozambique repatriated more than 5.5 million refugees and internally displaced, introduced many successful economic reforms, and held its first democratic elections in 1994. Despite these developments, Mozambique still struggles to rebuild. It ranks among the ten least-developed nations, with 38 percent of the population living on less than $1 per day. The population also suffers from a staggeringly high infant mortality rate and a rising HIV infection prevalence rate, now estimated by the U.N. at more than 16 percent of the adult population.
As is the case in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, Mozambique lacks sufficient qualified medical staff in areas beyond the capital city, as the majority is drawn to the capital city, Maputo, to aid organizations operating in more populated regions or to more lucrative positions overseas.
What International Medical Corps Is Doing
To target the medically underserved populations, International Medical Corps (IMC) is establishing a two-year Health Capacity Building Project in one of the most underdeveloped areas of the country. In the northern province of Niassa, 206 out of 1,000 children die before the age of five, almost half of young children are malnourished, and only 47 percent of pregnant women are accompanied by a skilled birth attendant during delivery.
To help fill this gap, IMC aims to improve the overall health status of women and children by:
International Medical Corps is also responding to the flooding that forced more than 163,000 people to flee their homes in the Zambezi River Valley in December 2007 and January 2008. Most of the displaced families have been living in government-designated resettlement areas. While this has prevented many flooding-related deaths, the health infrastructure is still inadequate, and many people do not receive most basic medical assistance. With funding from the European Commission IMC is assisting approximately 60,000 displaced and host families by:
After gaining independence from Portugal in 1975, the southeast African country of Mozambique struggled with a 17-year civil war that crippled its economy and infrastructure. The 1992 peace accords sparked significant advancement, as Mozambique repatriated more than 5.5 million refugees and internally displaced, introduced many successful economic reforms, and held its first democratic elections in 1994. Despite these developments, Mozambique still struggles to rebuild. It ranks among the ten least-developed nations, with 38 percent of the population living on less than $1 per day. The population also suffers from a staggeringly high infant mortality rate and a rising HIV infection prevalence rate, now estimated by the U.N. at more than 16 percent of the adult population.
As is the case in most of Sub-Saharan Africa, Mozambique lacks sufficient qualified medical staff in areas beyond the capital city, as the majority is drawn to the capital city, Maputo, to aid organizations operating in more populated regions or to more lucrative positions overseas.
What International Medical Corps Is Doing
To target the medically underserved populations, International Medical Corps (IMC) is establishing a two-year Health Capacity Building Project in one of the most underdeveloped areas of the country. In the northern province of Niassa, 206 out of 1,000 children die before the age of five, almost half of young children are malnourished, and only 47 percent of pregnant women are accompanied by a skilled birth attendant during delivery.
To help fill this gap, IMC aims to improve the overall health status of women and children by:
- Improving the quality of primary health care at the household, community, facility, and provincial levels
- Building knowledge and skills in maternal and child health practices among community members
- Increasing the demand for health care services in ten communities prioritized by the Ministry of Health
- Supporting the delivery of quality maternal and child health by improving the policy environment of the provincial health system
International Medical Corps is also responding to the flooding that forced more than 163,000 people to flee their homes in the Zambezi River Valley in December 2007 and January 2008. Most of the displaced families have been living in government-designated resettlement areas. While this has prevented many flooding-related deaths, the health infrastructure is still inadequate, and many people do not receive most basic medical assistance. With funding from the European Commission IMC is assisting approximately 60,000 displaced and host families by:
- Training health staff in existing health centers and health posts
- Establishing and strengthening Village Health Committees
- Increasing the demand for health care
- Training communities and health committees for emergency outbreak preparedness and response
- Improving the referral system
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PHOTO: IMC |
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IMC Programs in Niassa Province, Mozambique. |
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