Maputo — Mozambican health minister Ussene Isse announced on Wednesday that about 1.4 million children are born annually in the country.
According to the minister, who was adressing the country's parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, the total fertility rate is five children per woman, while 36 percent of young women, between 15 and 19 years of age, have already been pregnant at least once.
According to the projections from the last census, in 2017, the total Mozambican population is now around 36 million, and life expectancy at birth is 61 years.
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"The epidemiological transition is associated with the increase in health expenditure, at a moment when the country's current population growth rate is 2.5 per cent per year', he said.
The nature of the disease burden is changing. The statistics shown by Isse indicate that malaria is no longer the main cause of death. In 2007, malaria accounted for 29 per cent of all diagnosed death, but for the 2019-2021 period only six per cent of deaths were victims of malaria.
HIV/AIDS is the largest single cause of death, accounting for 11 per cent of deaths in 2019-2021. This is a major improvement, since in 2007 HIV/AIDS was responsible for 27 per cent of deaths.
Deaths from cancer have risen sharply - from one per cent of deaths in 2007 to eight per cent in 2019-2021. Deaths from cardio-vascular disease rose from three per cent in 2007 to six per cent in 2019-2021.
The minister also revealed that the average annual cost of treating a patient with a chronic disease ranges from 1,900 meticais to 15,073 meticais in the case of diabetes (from 29.91 US dollars to 237.38 at the current exchange rate).
Treating malaria is much cheaper. The minister said treating a patient with three episodes of the disease per year will cost about 152 meticais, equivalent to 2.4 dollars.
The minister also explained that the replenishment of medicines in the National Health Service follows a logistical and administrative cycle that can last between 12 and 18 months, from the identification of needs to distribution to the health units.
"Despite persistent challenges in the sector, the in-hospital mortality rate registered a reduction in 2026, currently standing within the acceptable standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), of below five per cent', Isse said.
The Minister acknowledged a sharp decline in foreign contributions to the health budget, "a situation that becomes even more worrying due to the theft of medicines in the distribution chain'.
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According to Isse, between 2022 and 2025, the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (ANARME) carried out 1,650 inspections in the medicines logistics and distribution chain, with 273 in the public sector, 1,211 in the private sector, and 166 in informal markets and other establishments.
During this period, stolen medicines valued at over 150 million meticais were seized, in addition to the detention of 19 citizens.
"The establishments involved in illegal activities were closed, and disciplinary proceedings were initiated', he said. "Regarding deviant behavior in the sector, out of a total of 453 accused, 60 employees were fired, 48 dismissed, 42 demoted, and 68 fined'.
