Mozambique

Mosquito Collection Site

Indoor residual spraying (IRS) in Mozambique was initially implemented in select areas in the 1940s by Portuguese settlers. IRS continued to be implemented in the 1960s and 1970s and stopped in the 1980s as a result of the civil war (1977-1992). Recognizing that malaria was a threat to development of their countries, the governments of Mozambique, South Africa, and Swaziland created the Lubombo Spatial Development Initiative in 1999 which began regular IRS in parts of these countries.

One hundred percent of the population is at risk for malaria.

Indoor Residual Spraying Areas

From 1995 to 2005, the Mozambique National Malaria Control Program carried out vector control with sporadic IRS in Zambezia. With support from the President’s Malaria Initiative, IRS in Zambezia was expanded from 3 to 6 districts in 2007, and further expanded to 8 districts in 2010.

In 2015, the PMI AIRS Project sprayed in six target districts including Quelimane, Milange, Mocuba, Morrumbala, Derre and Molumbo. This was the first year that PMI and Mozambique’s National Malaria Control Program used the organophosphate class of insecticide given confirmed resistance to pyrethroids in two of the target districts (Mocuba and Morrumbala). The remaining four districts continued to be sprayed with pyrethroid like in previous years.

Impact

IRS and other malaria control initiatives have made remarkable gains in the fight against malaria. Since 2006, all-cause mortality rates for children under five in Mozambique have decreased by 37%, according to the Malaria Indicator Survey. Read the Mozambique PMI Country Profile to learn more.