Mozambique Country Profile

Mozambique Country Profile

Discover more about CDC’s work in Mozambique by viewing our detailed country profilepdf icon

Country Overview

CDC has been working with the Government of Mozambique since 2000 and continues to support the country’s response to the HIV epidemic. CDC works closely with Mozambique’s Ministry of Health to deliver high quality HIV prevention and treatment services; strengthen laboratory, surveillance, infrastructure, and workforce capacity; and more effectively respond to the burden of tuberculosis, the leading cause of death for those living with HIV.

Per Capita GNI

$440

(2018)

Population (million)

29.50

(2018)

Under 5 Mortality

72/1,000 Live Births

(2017)

Life Expectancy

59 Years

(2017)

Estimated HIV Prevalence

12.6%

(Ages 15-49): (2018)

Estimated AIDS Deaths

45,000

(2018)

TB Treatment Success Rate

90%

(2016)

Estimated TB Incidence

551/100,000

(2017)

TB Mortality

73/100,000

(2017)

Estimated Orphans Due to AIDS

1,100,000

(2017)

TB patients with known HIV-status who are HIV-positive

40%

(2017)

Reported Number Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy (ART)

1,125,642

(2018)


Strategic Focus

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been providing support to Mozambique’s public health sector since 2000, in order to help develop the country’s response to the dual HIV and Tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. CDC supports implementation of key HIV and TB interventions and provides technical assistance (TA) to the Ministry of Health (MOH) in scaling up evidence-based interventions. CDC works closely with the MOH and implementing partners in addressing the country´s immediate needs, and supports building of long-term capacity to mitigate the impact and HIV epidemic control.

Strengthening Health System Capacity: CDC works closely with the MOH to deliver high quality HIV prevention and treatment services; strengthen laboratory, surveillance, infrastructure, and workforce capacity; and develops operational research in all 11 provinces, with intensified efforts in those where HIV prevalence rates are highest. CDC is supporting the MOH to improve the availability, accessibility, quality, and use of service-delivery data; conducting HIV surveillance and behavioral surveys; designing and improving systems to support routine program monitoring; and strengthening and expanding the health management information systems (HMIS) infrastructure.

Supporting Integrated HIV Prevention and Treatment Services: CDC supports the delivery of antiretroviral therapy (ART) as part of the national program that reaches 914,000 patients , and is helping to rapidly scale-up viral load (VL) and drug resistance assessments to leverage the country’s capacity to reach the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) 90-90-90 goals in 2020. CDC also supports the provision of HIV counselling and testing, prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission services in more than 800 health facilities, and voluntary medical male circumcisions (VMMC) at over 50 fixed and mobile sites to further increase the control of the HIV epidemic.

Responding to HIV & Tuberculosis (TB) Epidemics: CDC supports the MOH in its response to the national TB burden, the leading cause of death for those living with HIV. CDC provides technical assistance in the development of national policies and strategies, training materials, and mentoring and supervision activities. As a result, our work is dramatically improving the laboratorial and clinical capacity for TB/HIV diagnostics and treatment. CDC implementing partners are also working with key populations, such as miners, prisoners, and healthcare workers and working with families of TB patients to improve detection of TB and HIV.

Key Activities and Accomplishments

Increasing Access to Antiretroviral Treatment: Through the development of national policies, including the National Accelerated Response to HIV, access to treatment has been dramatically increasing. In FY2017, CDC with other USG agencies continued to support the expansion of the “Test and Start” policy.

Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV: Identifying and treating HIV-positive pregnant women is the most effective approach to eliminate new infections among infants. CDC’s support for ensuring pregnant women receive HIV treatment makes it possible for thousands of babies to be born HIV-free. CDC supports MOH to make HIV testing and treatment available to all HIV exposed infants.

Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision: With lifelong benefits, this low-cost procedure reduces the risk of female-to-male sexual transmission of HIV by approximately 60%. The service also adds value by connecting men to health care and offering a package of services, including education on safer sex, and HIV testing and counselling services, with links to HIV treatment services for those that are HIV-positive.

Viral Load Monitoring Expansion: Access to high quality VL monitoring is considered essential for controlling the HIV epidemic, and is a top priority for CDC in Mozambique. Since 2016, according to the Mozambique MOH, CDC´s contribution resulted in the expansion of viral monitoring to 12 referral laboratories, leveraging the national capacity to perform approximately 74,000 VL tests per month. VL monitoring has increased substantially, from under 2,000 tests performed per month in September 2015 to over 50,000 tests performed in December 2017.

Detection and Access of Miners and Prisoners to HIV and TB Treatment: Mine workers and prisoners have some of the highest rates of TB, HIV and TB/HIV in Africa. CDC implementing partners are identifying and referring for treatment miners with HIV and TB. Through mid-2018, almost 600 miners were screened with over 30% being found to have HIV and TB. CDC is supporting screening prisoners, identifying 360 persons with TB disease each in 2016 and 2017, up 3-fold compared with 2015.


Lessons Learned from Scaling up HIV Treatment in Mozambique

A new CDC study examining the first decade of HIV antiretroviral therapy (ART) scale-up in Mozambique revealed fewer people are dying from HIV in recent years, likely due to more patients starting treatment at earlier disease stages. The analysis also found that people who more recently began ART were less likely to remain engaged in HIV treatment and care over time.

Families Matter: Promoting open and friendly communication between parents and children

When Nokwazi Ndlovu* from Umlazi Township, south of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa was sexually assaulted by her stepfather she told her mother, but her mother didn’t believe her. Instead, she allegedly defended him saying he would never commit such a heinous act.

Community Support Groups Deliver HIV Treatment in Mozambique

When resources are limited, community support groups can help expand HIV treatment and improve patient retention. Mozambique is one of the most severely affected countries in the world by the HIV epidemic, with roughly 1.5 million people living with HIV and nearly 40,000 deaths annually. From 2004 to 2016, CDC, U.S. President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the country’s Ministry of Health, and other partners, have provided antiretroviral treatment (ART) to 800,000 people.

Page last reviewed: August 27, 2019, 12:30 PM