Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican government yesterday approved the draft law that establishes the legal framework for the National Health System, a draft which aims to “adapt” it to the health challenges of the current context.
“The proposed law aims to adapt the National Health System to the complexity and dimension of the health challenges, combined with the socioeconomic situation and demographic and epidemiological transitions in the country,” reads a note from the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers issued after the body’s weekly meeting.
In the document, the Mozambican executive does not provide details about the changes, stating only that the new legal framework, which must be approved by parliament, “applies to public, community and private institutions, individuals and communities that carry out activities in the health sector”.
The Mozambican National Health System has faced severe pressure over the last two years, caused by employee strikes against salary cuts and lack of overtime pay, first by the Mozambican Doctors Association, which is threatening to stop work again in September, and then by the Association of United and Solidary Health Professionals of Mozambique (APSUSM), which recently ended its strike but is also threatening to resume it.
In an interview with Lusa in June this year, APSUSM, which represents around 65,000 health professionals from different departments (excluding doctors), described the situation in the national system as chaotic, warning that professionals, who have been protesting constantly in recent months, are working under poor conditions.
“The situation continues to be difficult for us because we are working on an improvised basis, with many ‘fixes’ that we have to make in order to provide the minimum level of adequate care,” said APSUSM Secretary General Sheila Chuquela, warning that health professionals were also considering going on strike again.
The country has a total of 1,778 health units, 107 of which are health posts and three specialized hospitals. Four are central hospitals, seven are general hospitals, seven are provincial hospitals, 22 are rural hospitals and 47 are district hospitals, according to data from the Ministry of Health.
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