In recognition of World Malaria Day, the U.S. Government celebrates the advances Mozambique has made in preventing and treating malaria and recommits to continue supporting Mozambique’s efforts at eliminating the deadly disease. Since 2007, the U.S. Government has invested more than $416 million to help the Government of Mozambique and its courageous healthcare workers fight malaria in Mozambique.
“The United States is proud of its more than 15-year partnership with Mozambique to combat malaria,” said U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique Peter H. Vrooman. “Investments we make together with the goal of ending malaria-related deaths not only save lives now, but also help prepare to respond to future health threats.”
The U.S. Government, through the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI), has partnered with the Government of Mozambique, primarily the National Malaria Control Program, to make significant progress in combating this deadly disease. This vital assistance includes medicines and preventive treatments, health worker training, indoor residual spraying, insecticide-treated mosquito nets, and improved data monitoring and laboratory equipment. In 2021 alone, PMI contributed to the delivery of 31 million malaria rapid diagnostics tests and more than 15 million doses of fast-acting medicines to clinics and communities throughout Mozambique. Additionally, PMI trained more than 10,000 health workers that increased their ability to detect and treat malaria, while strengthening the health system overall and providing key skills to fight COVID-19 and future health challenges. Together, the U.S. and Mozambican governments have helped increase the percentage of households using mosquito nets from 16 percent in 2007 to 82 percent today, and decrease the overall child death rate by 37 percent in the same time period.
Malaria remains one of the world’s oldest and deadliest diseases. The World Health Organization reported more than 600,000 people died of malaria in 2020, 96 percent of which were in Africa. The U.S. Government remains committed to supporting the people of Mozambique to combat malaria and other diseases. In close collaboration with the Government of Mozambique, the U.S. Government provides more than $500 million in annual assistance to help Mozambique build a healthier, more secure, more democratic, and more prosperous country for all citizens.
The U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) supports 24 partner countries in sub-Saharan Africa and 3 programs in the Greater Mekong Subregion in Southeast Asia to control and eliminate malaria. Led by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented together with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), PMI delivers cost-effective, lifesaving malaria interventions—such as insecticide-treated bed nets, indoor residual spraying, and essential medicines—and invests in health workers and health systems to accelerate the global fight against this deadly infectious disease. Thanks to the generosity of the American people, PMI benefits more than 700 million people at risk of malaria worldwide each year.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of U.S. Embassy in Mozambique.
