The event brought together institutions and chronic disease experts to promote initiatives to prevent and treat diabetes and hypertension in the country.

The “prevention and control of noncommunicable diseases” project, supported by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, which the DREAM Program works on together with Doctors with Africa Cuamm and AIFO, is in its last year of implementation. For this reason, the event was also an opportunity to highlight some of the innovative results and good practices achieved during the three years of the project in three provinces of the country: Maputo and in the provinces of Sofala, Zambézia.

In fact, to date, 41,345 people have been screened for diabetes, 377,758 for hypertension; 1,555 new diagnoses of diabetes and 12,470 of hypertension. Also: 54,352 visits to patients with diabetes and hypertension and 243 health workers trained on the diagnosis and management of chronic patients.

During the initiative, there were several speeches that emphasized the need for an integrated approach to chronic patients that takes into account the needs of patients with diabetes and hypertension, but more importantly, includes chronic patient care in the Ministry of Health’s strategies so as to truly respond to the growing number of cases of people with diabetes and hypertension that there are in Mozambique.

“During the project, many scientific studies have been carried out, and among the most important is certainly the one on the cost to the health system of a patient with diabetes and hypertension,” recalled Elio Giombini, Head of the Health Sector of AICS. “The study will provide important elements to support the fight against noncommunicable diseases that the Ministry of Health of Mozambique has initiated.”