DREAM: fighting HIV, cancer and malnutrition in Beira
Protecting the population in Beira, Mozambique, especially individuals with specific vulnerabilities.
Starting date
6 December 2022Duration
12 monthsRealized by:
Comunità di Sant’EgidioObjectives
Supporting and increasing access to prevention services for cervical cancer for women in the Beira district, by supporting on-going activities and organizing screening days and training sessions on hygiene and health.
Strengthening available services at the Multi-purpose Center: screening, diagnostic monitoring and treatment of patients suffering from HIV, tuberculosis, hypertension, diabetes and infantile epilepsy. Setting up mobile clinics to cater for the displaced in Beira who can’t reach healthcare centers.
Enhancing nutritional support for 900 minors at risk for malnutrition by offering them a healthy and balanced diet for five days a week and using the Nutrition Center as a community center for educational and recreational activities as well as for training parents about nutrition.
Training healthcare staff through courses and on-the-job training to increase their competences, in order to guarantee an excellent service able to keep abreast of innovations in the medical field.
The final recipients of the project are people living in and around Beira and accessing free health services in the multipurpose DREAM centre, the Nutrition Centre or those who will be reached by the mobile clinic. In total, it is estimated that 7,000 beneficiaries will be reached through this initiative, belonging to the following vulnerable groups: people with diabetes and hypertension, with HIV and HIV/TB, pregnant women, orphaned children, the elderly, displaced persons, the poor and malnourished, and children with epilepsy.
Mozambique is one of the poorest countries in the world, with critical health indicators: there are only 8 doctors per 100,000 inhabitants and high maternal and infant mortality rates persist.
More than 2 million people live with HIV, it is the seventh most affected country by the HIV/AIDS epidemic for which there are 40,000 deaths per year. Vertical transmission is at 13.5%, with 1,000,000 children exposed to HIV.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as diabetes and hypertension, are among the leading causes of death and there is a critical lack of awareness of risk factors.
Women with HIV have a four times higher risk of developing cervical cancer. There are serious gaps in prevention.
Due to HIV there are more than 1,000,000 orphans among Mozambican children. Food insecurity affects 15.6% of under-fives, 42% of whom suffer from growth retardation. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict is further exacerbating an already complex situation due to rising food prices.
Sofala Province, where the project is carried out, was hit by two cyclones in 2019 that destroyed 90% of the buildings in Beira. A real humanitarian emergency is ongoing, with thousands of displaced people in refugee camps and a poor and inefficient health system lacking adequate facilities and qualified personnel.
