Healthy Families, Strong Communities: How Community Health Agents Are Changing Lives in Mozambique

Mozambique continues to face a complex mix of preventable and neglected diseases, compounded by systemic fragility. Malaria, neglected tropical diseases, and other health challenges continue to contribute to the country’s high child and maternal mortality rates.

Yet, progress is being made through national strategies and donor-supported programs. One such initiative, the Rotary Healthy Communities Challenge, is active in the provinces of Manica and Tete, where training Community Health Agents is helping reshape local health practices and narratives.

One participant of such a program, Joana , currently pregnant, was assisted through health information received at the local health facility, helping to protect herself and her unborn child.

“After learning during the community sessions that malaria prevention is very important during pregnancy, I went to open my antenatal care file,” she explained. “At the health facility, they gave me vaccines, malaria preventive treatment (IPTp), tablets, and a mosquito net.”

The program is covering the entire family, including the household head, Alfredo, 52, father of eight living in Manica Province, in central Mozambique. Alfredo adopted simple yet effective practices to protect his family’s health. These include building separate latrines for men and women, maintaining a small waste disposal pit in their yard, and ensuring that every family member sleeps under a mosquito net.

“My yard is always clean,” Alfredo said proudly while showing the team around his home. “This is what I learned from the community health talks. We must keep our surroundings clean and our homes organized.”

The Agents behind the dissemination of the health information

Falência is one of them, she is the mother of two-year-and-eight-month-old boy, Castigo, she was selected by her community to attend training as a Community Health Worker. After completing six months of training, she returned home determined to help improve the health of families in her community, starting with her own.

“I went through six months of training and learned so much. Now I conduct health talks and go door-to-door providing awareness sessions in my community,” Falência shared enthusiastically.

She explains that the first impact of her training began at home, where she now feels more confident caring for her son’s health. But her ambition goes even further.

“I want to become a professional health technician and help my community even more,” she said.

World Vision Mozambique, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, PATH, and Rotary International, through the Rotary Healthy Communities Challenge, has supported the training of 120 Community Health Workers across the provinces of Tete and Manica. These workers have also been equipped to help reduce the prevalence of diseases such as malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea, addressing both preventive and basic curative care at the community level.

This project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Vision International, and Rotary International.

World Vision Mozambique in straight collaboration with health authorities at central and local levels are working together to responding the Sustainable Development Goal number three.

These actions are in alignment with government five-year governance plan to respond to pilar three, Social and Demographic Transformation.