Planning Phase - Strengthening Community to Health Facility Care Continuum in Marrere, Mozambique (IMCHA)
Too many women in Mozambique continue to die in childbirth, especially in northern Nampula province. This project will provide support to health system stakeholders to develop lasting solutions to the problem. Specifically, it will strengthen the continuum of maternal health care between the community and health facility in Marrere, Mozambique.
Despite some progress in reducing maternal mortality, the Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2015 report by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank Group, and the United Nations Population Division confirms a maternal mortality ratio of 489 per 100,000 live births in Mozambique.
An estimated 11% of maternal deaths are AIDS-related, one of the five highest rates globally. UNFPA's groundbreaking 2013 report, Adolescent Pregnancy, confirmed that Mozambique also has one of the five highest rates of adolescent pregnancy in the world. In total, 42% of women aged 20-24 give birth by age 18. Within Mozambique, Nampula province has one of the highest adolescent birth rates with 210 out of 1,000 adolescent girls giving birth between ages 15 and 19. The UK medical journal, Lancet, noted that the province also has lower usage of health facility delivery and postnatal care services compared to the rest of the country.
Research partnership for health
The Universidade Lurio will collaborate with the University of Saskatchewan to design research to address these challenges. Their goal is to create an evidence base, support stakeholder engagement, and build consensus on priority research questions.
The Universidade Lurio has a strong partnership with the Nampula province Ministry of Health and Marrere community members. Through their One Student, One Family program, 700 health science students visit and track neighbouring families during their years of study. The university will build on these relationships to explore innovative solutions that can be applied to the Nampula and Marrere contexts. The project team will also strengthen links with national stakeholders to lay the foundation for scaling up positive innovations.
This project is funded by the Innovating for Maternal and Child Health in Africa program. It is a seven-year $36 million initiative funded by Global Affairs Canada, IDRC, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.