In four short years, Mozambique has increased its number of frontline healthcare workers almost tenfold, reaching an estimated 2 million households nationwide.
“I used to walk for about two hours to reach the nearest healthcare unit or spend a substantial amount of money on transport every time a family member needed assistance,” says Matola Mourana, 38, a resident of Moamba District, Maputo Province. “Now, unless it is a severe condition, the community health worker comes to our house and provides the care we need.”
Over two decades, Mozambique reduced mortality rates and significantly improved access to primary healthcare. However, more must be done to increase services in rural areas and for the extremely poor. The World Bank and partners have supported the country’s Ministry of Health in that quest, notably with the World Bank’s Primary Health Care Strengthening Program designed to train community health workers in 10 of the country’s 11 provinces. In 2018, there were 1,000 frontline healthcare workers in Mozambique, and in 2022, that number reached 8,300, providing services to 2 million households – compared with 240,000 in 2018. Today, they provide critical information in communities on nutrition, contraception, and preventing common diseases like malaria, diarrhoea, and pneumonia.
