Maputo, 14 Jul (AIM) – Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi said on Thursday that the National Health System (SNS) has recorded progress over the past seven years, as the number of health facilities increased by 16 per cent, from 1,534 in 2015 to 1,779 in 2022.
The President was addressing, on Thursday, in Maputo, a conference on Health Infrastructure Investment, in the context of the presidential initiative “One District, One Hospital.”
Nyusi added that 33 percent of the 154 districts in the country now have a district hospital, a significant development towards achieving the goal of universal health access by 2030, in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
“From 2015 to 2022, at a time of greater fiscal crisis, we managed to increase the number of health facilities by 16 per cent, which shows the enormous challenge facing the government”, he said. The initiative “One District, One Hospital” had accelerated the construction of infrastructure, “but the goal is to reach 60 district hospitals, covering about 40 per cent of the districts, by the end of 2024”, Nyusi said.
The President highlighted the reduction in morbidity from parasitic and infectious diseases, such as malaria, cholera and HIV/AIDS. In the same period, there has been an increase in access to safe drinking water from 38.9 per cent to 56 per cent of the population in rural areas, and from 80 per cent to 83 per cent in urban areas.
Nyusi also said that the country currently has 1,779 health facilities, 18,579 nurses, 2,892 doctors, 24 per cent of whom work in health facilities in rural areas, where the majority of the population lives.
“The ratio of health professionals has improved from 9.9 to 12.9 per thousand inhabitants. Mozambique also belongs to the list of 10 countries that have significantly reduced maternal and child mortality”, he said.
Despite the progress made, the President recognised that the country, in many indicators continues to have ratios below those recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
(AIM)
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