The Mozambican NCD Alliance was launched on 30 November 2018 in the capital Maputo with the participation of Minister of Health Dr. Nazira Abdula and other high-level representatives from the WHO country office, government, academia, health professionals and civil society.

The event was organised by the alliance’s founding members: the Mozambican Heart Association, Mozambican Association for the Fight Against Cancer, Mozambican Association of Hemophilic Patients, ANTEPARO and Mozambican Diabetes Association.

In her introductory speech Dr. Neusa Jessen, founder member from the Mozambican Heart Association, emphasized that NCDs account for one-third of all deaths in the country. This represents a large cost for the health system and for society, disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable populations, she added.

Leveraging strengths for collective action

It was that burden of NCDs that motivated the founding members come together to form the new alliance, said De Jessen, where they could leverage existing expertise and strengthen collective action to address the main NCD risk factors.

The alliance’s main objectives include:

• Promotion of innovative and culturally appropriate NCD prevention proposals;
• Identification of gaps in current NCD policies and programs, and proposals to address such gaps;
• Creation of an integrated programme for NCDs based on the continuum of care (from prevention to monitoring);
• Advocacy on NCDs with relevant government authorities;
• Ensuring the meaningful and active participation of people living with NCDs.

NCD Alliance has supported the newly launched national alliance with capacity-building and a grant from the Seed Programme within NCDA’s Advocacy Institute. The new alliance is also supported by the Global Alliance for Respiratory Diseases.