The Health System (Part 1)

Healthy Mozambique – The Health System (Part 1)….

 

(Note to Our Readers: Your author recently lost (misplaced?, had stolen?) his camera. So, unfortunately for now, you’ll have to follow along without the benefit of pictures. Hope to have a replacement on board soon!)

Let’s take a brief look at the Mozambican health care system -  we can start from the top down.

Health programs in Moz are directed by the state Ministry of Health. There is a minimal private sector: the Ministry controls, in one way or another, all the health programs in the country. Health care delivery is organized at a provincial level. Here in Xai Xai , the provincial capital, we have a rather large (300 bed), somewhat-modern hospital, with a new, well-equipped surgical suite. For higher-level services, patients can be  air lifted or driven to the capital, Maputo. Is care of high quality? Probably not like back  in the states. For this reason, ex-pats, and volunteers, such as we Peace Corps volunteers, are typically referred out to facilities in South Africa for most acute care.

On the next level are ambulatory care centers, or Centros de Saude. These are the key public health facilities from which most residents receive preventive care (immunizations, prenatal care, testing (e.g., HIV)  and treatment of minor illnesses. In Xai Xai we have 7 such centers, most staffed by but a single doctor.  Sophisticated services are few (e.g., no radiology). But, hereabouts there is no private health care system, so the Centros are the only choice for residents. Waiting times are long, and many patients lack the money to pay for transportation to the Centros from their homes. However, once there, they receive most services free of charge.

 Most striking to the foreign visitor are the relatively few physicians. There are two medical schools in Maputo, with two more in the works. And, a few foreign-trained physicians practice here and there. . But, the rate of approximately one physician to 20,000 citizens is pretty grim. Nonetheless, Mozambique seems to make the most of  it. Considerable support is provided by developed countries, such as the hundreds of millions of dollars provided by the USA in recent years to fight HIV/AIDS.

 Next time we’ll look at the remarkable volunteers on the ground that help make the whole system work.

Until Next Time (Ate Ja!)