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Overview

The significant focus on HIV and AIDS as a development issue in Mozambique has provided the Ministry of Health and its partners with the opportunity to strengthen the health system across the board. Ongoing efforts are being made to integrate HIV and AIDS care and treatment with other relevant programmes and to ensure that HIV and AIDS financing is fully included as a central part of the overall Government budget.

There has been a tremendous expansion in the number of health units providing ART corresponding to 70% coverage of all districts, while access to treatment has rapidly expanded. Human resource constraints across the sector continue to be a major challenge to scaling-up services at central and provincial levels, both in terms of numbers and capacity, at management and implementation levels. Certain responsibilities are being transferred to lower-level but qualified medical staff wherever possible, including an amendment in 2006 to allow for the provision of ARV treatment by health technicians. Programmes are being implemented to allow non-medical staff to carry out non-medical but essential HIV and AIDS related activities including counselling and testing, prevention of mother-to child transmission, HAART counseling).

There is growing recognition of the need to better address most at risk groups and several activities are underway or planned, including a behavioural surveillance survey to monitor and assess baseline information in HIV-related knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours among key risk groups.

Progress towards universal access based on 2005 and 2007 reported UNGASS achievements and 2010 reported targets, as per data available*.

*Data sources:

Treatment: Global Report on the AIDS Epidemic, 2008

Care and support: UNICEF: Third Stocktaking Report, 2008

Prevention: UNICEF, WHO, UNAIDS, Towards Universal Access, 2008;  UNGASS Country Progress Reports, 2008; Country national surveys; UNGASS Country Progress Reports, 2008; Global Report on the AIDS Epidemic, 2008

National commitment: Global Report on the AIDS Epidemic, 2008