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Child Poverty in Mozambique. A Situation and Trend ... - Unicef

Child Poverty in Mozambique. A Situation and Trend ... - Unicef

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the onset of symptoms. In areas where malaria is common, such as <strong>Mozambique</strong>, it<br />

is recommended that any fever <strong>in</strong> a child is treated as if it were malaria <strong>and</strong> that the<br />

child be given a full course of anti-malarial tablets. In 2003, the DHS <strong>in</strong>dicated a very<br />

high prevalence of fever among children, with 27 per cent of all children under-five<br />

years of age reported to have had fever <strong>in</strong> the two weeks prior to the survey. Among<br />

children with fever, only 15 per cent were given anti-malaria drugs <strong>and</strong> only 8 per cent<br />

were given the drugs with<strong>in</strong> 24 hours.<br />

These low rates of appropriate treatment <strong>in</strong>dicate, on the one h<strong>and</strong>, low awareness<br />

<strong>and</strong> dem<strong>and</strong> among care-givers for treatment (only about half of children with fever<br />

were taken to a health facility), <strong>and</strong> on the other h<strong>and</strong> low access to health facilities<br />

<strong>and</strong> low availability of drugs. Outside the formal health system, only registered<br />

pharmacies <strong>and</strong> a few specially registered shops can supply antimalarial drugs.<br />

As approximately one million pregnancies every year are thought to be complicated<br />

by co-<strong>in</strong>fection with malaria <strong>and</strong> HIV <strong>in</strong> sub-Saharan Africa, particular attention needs<br />

to be given to this issue. Both malaria <strong>and</strong> HIV <strong>in</strong>fection <strong>in</strong> pregnancy are associated<br />

with maternal anaemia, low birthweight, <strong>and</strong> maternal <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>fant mortality, with HIV<br />

<strong>in</strong>fection present<strong>in</strong>g an <strong>in</strong>creased risk of malaria. In the presence of co-<strong>in</strong>fection,<br />

the prevalence of anaemia <strong>and</strong> low birthweight <strong>in</strong>cidence may exceed 35 per cent<br />

(Brentl<strong>in</strong>ger, 2006). The WHO now recommends the use of <strong>in</strong>termittent presumptive<br />

therapy (IPT) <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>secticide treated nets (ITNs) for all pregnant women liv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> high<br />

risk malaria areas. In accordance with this, the M<strong>in</strong>istry of Health <strong>in</strong> <strong>Mozambique</strong> also<br />

strengthened preventive treatment <strong>and</strong> <strong>in</strong>troduced IPT <strong>in</strong> 2006, which <strong>in</strong>volves the<br />

provision of at least two treatment doses of Sulphadox<strong>in</strong>e Pyrametham<strong>in</strong>e (SP) dur<strong>in</strong>g<br />

rout<strong>in</strong>e antenatal cl<strong>in</strong>ic visits.<br />

The situation regard<strong>in</strong>g prevention <strong>and</strong> control of malaria is more positive. There are<br />

two major control tools promoted by <strong>Mozambique</strong> for malaria control, i.e. Indoor<br />

Residual Spray<strong>in</strong>g (IRS) us<strong>in</strong>g long last<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>secticides <strong>and</strong> the use of ITNs, which<br />

are considerably more effective than un-treated nets. The Government <strong>in</strong> PARPA<br />

II identified IRS as a key strategy for malaria control <strong>and</strong> prevention, establish<strong>in</strong>g a<br />

target of 50 per cent IRS coverage by the year 2009, compared with about 18 per<br />

cent <strong>in</strong> 2005.<br />

Together with IRS, the other effective means of malaria control is the use of ITNs,<br />

particularly Long Last<strong>in</strong>g Insecticide Nets (LLINs). More than 40 field trials <strong>in</strong> Africa<br />

<strong>in</strong> the past two decades have shown that ITNs reduced overall child mortality by 20<br />

per cent <strong>and</strong> malaria episodes by 50 per cent. Furthermore, it has also been found<br />

that the protective efficacy of ITNs <strong>in</strong> pregnant women of unknown HIV status was<br />

approximately 42 per cent (Brentl<strong>in</strong>ger, 2006). In 2000, two major ITN programmes<br />

were <strong>in</strong>itiated <strong>in</strong> Zambézia <strong>and</strong> Gaza prov<strong>in</strong>ces. These <strong>in</strong>itiatives have exp<strong>and</strong>ed<br />

over time <strong>and</strong> by the end of 2005 there were ITN programmes <strong>in</strong> n<strong>in</strong>e of the eleven<br />

prov<strong>in</strong>ces of <strong>Mozambique</strong>. Until 2006, the major thrust of these programmes was<br />

the provision through the health system of highly subsidised ITNs (cost<strong>in</strong>g about<br />

US$1.25) to pregnant women <strong>and</strong> children under five years of age. Start<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> 2006,<br />

the M<strong>in</strong>istry of Health announced that all ITNs distributed through health facilities will<br />

be distributed free of charge.<br />

In 2003, around 18 per cent of mothers aged 15-49 with children under five years<br />

of age owned a mosquito bednet (treated or not). The percentage of mothers with<br />

bednets was over twice as high <strong>in</strong> urban areas as <strong>in</strong> rural, at 28 per cent <strong>and</strong> 12 per<br />

cent respectively. Coverage of bednets varied considerably between prov<strong>in</strong>ces,<br />

rang<strong>in</strong>g from 9 per cent of mothers with bednets <strong>in</strong> Manica prov<strong>in</strong>ce to 40 per cent <strong>in</strong><br />

Gaza prov<strong>in</strong>ce. Of those women own<strong>in</strong>g bednets, 42 per cent had treated nets.<br />

CHILDHOOD POVERTY IN MOZAMBIQUE: A SITUATION AND TRENDS ANALYSIS<br />

87

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