The Covid-19 pandemic has so far infected more than 30 million people in the world, having major impact on global health with collateral damage. In Mozambique, a public state of emergency was declar
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ed at the end of March 2020. This has limited people's movements and reduced public services, leading to a decrease in the number of people accessing health care facilities. An implementation research project, The Alert Community for a Prepared Hospital, has been promoting access to maternal and child health care, in Natikiri, Nampula, for the last four years. Nampula has the second highest incidence of Covid-19. The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of Covid-19 pandemic Government restrictions on access to maternal and child healthcare services. We compared health centres in Nampula city with healthcare centres in our research catchment area. We wanted to see if our previous research interventions have led to a more resilient response from the community.
METHODS: Mixed-methods research, descriptive, cross-sectional, retrospective, using a review of patient visit documentation. We compared maternal and child health care unit statistical indicators from March-May 2019 to the same time-period in 2020. We tested for significant changes in access to maternal and child health services, using KrushKall Wallis, One-way Anova and mean and standard deviation tests. We compared interviews with health professionals, traditional birth attendants and patients in the two areas. We gathered data from a comparable city health centre and the main city referral hospital. The Marrere health centre and Marrere General Hospital were the two Alert Community for a Prepared Hospital intervention sites.
RESULTS: Comparing 2019 quantitative maternal health services access indicators with those from 2020, showed decreases in most important indicators: family planning visits and elective C-sections dropped 28%; first antenatal visit occurring in the first trimester dropped 26%; hospital deliveries dropped a statistically significant 4% (p = 0.046), while home deliveries rose 74%; children vaccinated down 20%.
CONCLUSION: Our results demonstrated the negative collateral effects of Covid-19 pandemic Government restrictions, on access to maternal and child healthcare services, and highlighted the need to improve the health information system in Mozambique.
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This brief gives an overview of disability rights in the Sub-Saharan region, with focus on Sida partner countries; DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and South S
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udan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe
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The question of amnesties has come to the forefront once again as the Central African Republic (CAR) started a new round of African Union-mediated peace negotiations on 24 January 2019. While rebel
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groups demanded a general amnesty as a non-negotiable condition, the government maintained strong opposition to any new amnesty. The Khartoum peace agreement signed on 6 February 2019 did not uphold rebel groups’ demand for a general amnesty, but it leaves many grey areas concerning the question of amnesty and justice.
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Integrated community case management (ICCM) – an approach where community-based health workers are trained to identify, treat and refer children under-five with pneumonia, diarrhoea and malaria – is increasingly being used across sub-Saharan Africa to supplement the gaps in basic healthcare prov
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ision. ICCM programmes have been endorsed by major international organisations and donors, and many African Ministries of Health as a key strategy for reducing child mortality.
This learning paper describes Malaria Consortium’s approach to and experience of engaging local communities in integrated community case management (ICCM) in Uganda, Zambia and Mozambique.
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299 deaths have been recorded and 329 people are still missing, according to the Government.
• Latest assessments indicate that the homes of some tens
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of thousands of people have been destroyed or damaged beyond habitability. Most of these people are staying with hosts in the extended community.
• Revised Flash Appeal requires US$294 million to respond to the drought and Cyclone Idai.
• Food Cluster partners have so far assisted an estimated 30,000 people in the worst-affected areas of Chimanimani and Chipinge.
• Access to a sufficient quantity of water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene has been restored for 43,000 people.
• Eight clusters have been activated to bolster the humanitarian response effort in support to the Government of Zimbabwe,
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CYCLONE IDAI
1.85M People affected; 400K Displaced; 603 Deaths; 1641 Injured; 1.2M People in need; 6766 Cholera cases; 43556 Malaria case
CYCLONE KENNETH
3214 Displaced; 45 Deaths; 91 Injured; 374K People in need; 225 Cholera cases; 7279 Malaria case
There has been a significant reduction in the number of displaced people - with 73,296 people currently hosted in 70 accommodation centres; down from 142,327 people the week before.
A total of 4,97
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9 cholera cases were recorded in Beira, Dondo, Buzi and Nhamatanda and the death toll has reached eight.
With UNICEF support, 814,293 people were vaccinated against cholera representing 99 per cent of the target population.
UNICEF continues supporting FIPAG (the water supply institution),
Government and operators to run water supply systems in affected areas providing drinking water to 771,856 people
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In October 2022, President Biden signed the Global Malnutrition Prevention and Treatment Act (GMPTA) into law, which directs USAID to prevent and treat malnutrition globally. The GMPTA further codifies USAID’s leadership on nutrition, with a focus on evidence-based interventions across health syst
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ems and food systems, in both development and humanitarian settings.
Realizing the potential of good nutrition to save lives and ensure a brighter future for generations to come is central to U.S. Government priorities. For over 60 years, USAID has been a leader in the fight to end global malnutrition. Nutrition affects every aspect of human development: from the ability to fight disease, to children’s performance in school, to a nation’s health and economic advancement. There is overwhelming evidence of the power of good nutrition but, due to challenges in accessing safe, nutritious foods and health and sanitation services, many people in low- and middle-income countries remain undernourished.
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The cholera outbreak has affected 14 countries in the WHO African Region. The climate-induced natural disasters such as cyclone and flooding in the southern African region and drought in the Horn of Africa led to increase in cases
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of cholera in many of the affected countries. With the rainy season commencement in the west African region there is risk of more cholera outbreaks on the horizon. The trend across the region is being closely monitored and this highlights the need for Member States to enhance readiness, heighten surveillance and institute preventive and control measures in communities and around border crossings to prevent and mitigate cross border infection. Since 1 January 2022, a cumulative number of 213 443 cholera cases has been reported to the WHO Regional Office for Africa (AFRO), including 3 951 deaths with a case fatality ratio (CFR) of 1.9% as of 16 July 2023 (Table 1). Malawi accounts for 28% (58 941) of the total cases and 45% (1 766) of all deaths reported, and together with Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, and Nigeria contribute to 85% (181 300) of the overall caseload and 88% (3 464) of cumulative deaths. In Epidemiologic week 28, six countries Burundi, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and Mozambique reported a total of 667 new cases.
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This report describes findings from a telephone survey with 1,333 people conducted in February 2021. The survey examined how people respond to public health and social measures (PHSMs) to prevent COVID-19. The sample is representative of households
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with access to a landline or cell phone, but does not include people without access to phones. As phone penetration aries by country, findings should be interpreted with caution.
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This article unites the latest guidelines on the management of arterial hypertension in primary health care in Portuguese speaking countries including Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, São Tomé e Prínc
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ipe, Cape Verde, among others.
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PERC produces regional and member state situation analyses, updated regularly.
As of 21 March 2019, a total of 250,000 people are reported to be affected by the floods in nine districts. An estimated 48 per cent of the affecte
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d population is under 18 years of age.
There is limited road access in the Chimanimani, the worst affected district.
An estimated 60,000 children are in need of immediate protection services, and 100,000 children are in need of welfare and civil registration services in nine flood affected districts.
Initial estimates indicate that 54 classrooms from 114 schools have been affected by the floods, impacting about 30,000 learners. Over 5,000 households have been reached with critical WASH Hygiene kits in affected districts.
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The spread of COVID-19 poses a challenge for emerging markets such as those in Africa and Latin America. While governments around the world are suffering from a shortage of ventilators, hospital bed
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s, and personal protective equipment, availability of these items is already extremely limited in some countries. In Africa, countries including Mali, Liberia, and Burkina Faso have only a few ventilators available to aid their populations, and there is also a lack of reliable oxygen supplies, ICUs, and healthcare workers to treat the sick. Additionally, many countries in Africa are already suffering from food insecurity and weak economies, which will worsen the long-term effects of coronavirus.
Keeping these factors in mind, GeoPoll conducted a remote study in 12 countries in sub-Saharan Africa on the effects coronavirus is already having on people throughout the region.
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This document addresses preparedness as an important investment against natural and man-made disasters. Through good practices, it urges the humanitarian community, governments and regional bodies to use preparedness thinking to be aware of risks, t
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o reduce them and to plan ahead to combat them in order to respond more effectively and reduce the threat of hunger, disease, poverty and conflicts. It uses examples from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bolivia, Colombia, Cook Islands, Ghana, Haiti, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Korea, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Panama, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Zambia and Zimbabwe
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Key figures (to date)
• 168,254 people affected in Cabo Delgado and 900 people affected in Nampula (preliminary estimates from INGC)
• 35,000 houses partially or destroyed
• 37,696 people hosted in accommodation centers throughout the province
• 9 districts identified in Cabo Delgado and
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4 in Nampula as the most impacted
• 11,422 affected people assisted
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The official death toll had risen to 493 people as of 29 March, according to the Government.
A new cholera outbreak was reported in Nhamatande; nine Cholera Treatment Centres have been established
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in Beira and other locations.
More than 140,000 people were displaced in 161 sites across Sofala (116 sites), Manica (27 sites), Zambezia (13 sites) Tete (5 sites); of whom more than 7,400 were identified as vulnerable, according to the Government.
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The official death toll was 447 people as of 25 March, according to the Government.
• Nearly 129,000 people are sheltering in 143 collective sites across Sofala (more than 97,600 people), Manic
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a (more than 14,800 people); Zambezia (more than 9,600 people); and Tete (more than 6,800 people).
• The entire District of Nhamatanda in Sofala Province has been affected by Cyclone Idai and related floods, and nearly 15,000 people are sheltering in 14 sites across the district
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