Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Japanese government is intensifying the training of Health Polyvalent Agents (HPAs) and nurses in the provinces of Gaza, southern Mozambique, and Niassa, in the north, aiming to improve the dissemination of information on maternal and child nutrition, seen as an essential condition for improving the quality of health and increasing life expectancy for populations.
More than 300 health professionals and HPAs benefited from training in the districts of Chibuto and Bilene in Gaza, and in the districts of Majune and Muembe in Niassa.
The training falls within the framework of the project for the Strengthening of Maternal and Child Nutrition Service, which is based on the use of the new Women and Child Health Booklet, an initiative being tested in Gaza since April of last year.
The initiative has three main objectives, namely instructions on how to fill out the women and child health booklet and interpret the data by healthcare professionals during prenatal consultations, reinforcing communication between healthcare professionals, Health Polyvalent Agents, families in communities, and improving maternal and child nutrition parameters.
In an interview with AIM in Gaza province, Japanese expert Amaike Naomi, from the Maternal and Child Nutrition Service Strengthening project, highlighted the importance of the initiative overall and the training of HPAs and healthcare professionals, considering the role these agents play in health counseling and education.
“This training is for healthcare professionals and polyvalent agents who are working in the community to improve maternal and child nutrition services using the women and child health booklet. We are empowering agents to pass on information to mothers and pregnant women. The booklet contains illustrations with key messages that facilitate both literate and illiterate women,” said the expert.
According to the source, Japan has over 70 years of experience in using the women and child health booklet, an instrument considered important for women’s education and information recording, a factor that has improved maternal and child health and combated malnutrition in that Asian country, known for its high life expectancy.
The person responsible for implementing the project in Mozambique, Kadoi Nobuhiro, emphasized that as part of the impact assessment of the initiative, looking at the achievement of the main objectives, one of its priority actions is to observe women with low-weight babies and analyze exclusive breastfeeding for six months, aiming to assess nutrition parameters, seen as an essential factor for the quality of life for women and children.
“Japan is one of the countries in the world with high life expectancy, and the women and child health booklet plays a key role because it has significantly reduced infant mortality. This booklet, being implemented in Mozambique, could contribute to life expectancy, but it must be accompanied by other initiatives to improve the quality of maternal and child health services,” said the Japanese source responsible for the project.
According to the source, the choice of Gaza and Niassa for the pilot phase is due to the need to cross-reference information from the central and northern regions, considering that realities may differ, but the intention is to expand the initiative nationwide.
Kadoi Nobuhiro states that it is premature at this point to advance any results or indications of the ongoing testing, but he assures that the data, when completed, will be jointly analyzed with the government, through the Ministry of Health, for a subsequent decision on nationwide expansion.
The Japanese government has disbursed 175 million meticais (about 3 million US dollars) for this project.
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