Partners

PSI/Mozambique coordinates closely with the MOH through the National Directorate for Disease Control and Health Promotion as well as the Provincial and District Health Directorates. PSI/Mozambique works with the National AIDS Council (NAC) in technical groups on communications and condoms, co-implements a workplace HIV program with the Ministry of National Defense (MND), and has a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Interior. PSI/Mozambique’s memoranda of understanding with many other NGOs help to expand the reach of communications campaigns and product distribution to those most vulnerable, particularly in rural areas with weak commercial infrastructure.

Current Donors

PSI receives funding in Mozambique from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Presidential Malaria Initiative (PMI), the Government of the Netherlands, the British Department for International Development (DFID) and UNICEF.

HIV/AIDS Prevention

In support of the NAC’s plan to reduce the number of HIV infections in Mozambique, PSI promotes healthy behaviors and seeks to discourage harmful cultural norms such as cross-generational sex. PSI/Mozambique uses mass media and a network of ten theater groups and 120 community based communications agents trained to deliver messages targeted to specific groups using local languages. Theater and community agents reach roughly 500,000 people per year. PSI/Mozambique has also worked with partners to develop a network of several hundred peer educators who implement targeted communications programs with the military, police and commercial sex workers. PSI/Mozambique supports the MOH and the MND in delivering VCT in 27 fi xed sites located in government health facilities and in numerous satellite sites in workplaces, communities, and schools. Together these sites counsel and test over 13,000 clients per month, making PSI/Mozambique the MOH’s largest partner in VCT service provision. PSI/Mozambique also supports PMTCT in many of the fi xed sites, counseling and testing over 35,000 pregnant women in a twelve month period. PSI/Mozambique markets three brands of condoms (JeitO, JeitO Aromatizado, and Trust Studs) which are available at subsidized rates in over 6,000 outlets nationally. Sales increased by 15% in 2006 to 22 million. The program recently teamed with the MOH and the NAC to re-introduce female condoms through a network of women’s groups working in the Maputo area.

Malaria Prevention

PSI/Mozambique’s malaria interventions focus on supporting the MOH to increase the use of ITNs (including long-lasting insecticide-treated nets or LLINs). Starting in Zambézia province and expanding to Gaza and Sofala provinces, the program delivers ITNs through multiple channels: free distribution targeted to pregnant women at health facilities; free distribution targeted to children under five delivered through campaigns in remote areas; free distribution to orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) and persons living with HIV and AIDS (PLWHA) through NGO partners; and sales of subsidized LLINs in areas with high coverage of the most vulnerable groups. In late 2006, PSI/Mozambique provided substantial assistance to the MOH in implementing a campaign that treated over 450,000 nets. PSI/Mozambique also assists the MOH to train community health workers in case management and treatment protocols.

Child Survival

To support the MOH in reducing the incidence of diarrheal diseases, particularly amongst children under five, PSI/Mozambique launched a safe water program with its own funding in 2004. To date, the program has sold or distributed over one million bottles of Certeza, each of which treats enough water for a family of five for one month. PSI worked with a local bleach manufacturer to improve its quality control suffi ciently to produce Certeza locally. Certeza is promoted through mass media and community-based theater, sold at a subsidized price in markets, and distributed for free to the MOH in emergency situations (such as cholera outbreaks and floods). As with ITNs, PSI/Mozambique partners with local and international NGOs to distribute Certeza for free to OVCs and PLWHA, and trains home-based care workers in diarrheal disease prevention. Over 8,000 workers have been trained to date.

Family Planning

PSI/Mozambique received funding from PSI headquarters in 2006 to study the potential of the commercial market to reduce the burden on the MOH in the provision of oral contraceptives. A concept paper describing the introduction of a low cost oral contraceptive on the commercial market has been produced and formative research is under way.