A/HRC/42/43/Add.2
67.
Although officials from the National Institute for Social Action visit communities on
paydays, there is no opportunity for an effective and immediate complaint and grievance
redress, since the human and other resources are focused on the processing of payments.
Their offices are located in provincial capitals, which are inaccessible for the vast majority
of older persons and there is no comprehensive management information system, making it
impossible to record complaints or review them at a higher administrative level.30
F.
Care
68.
The right to health remains unrealized for many of the most marginalized older
women and men. Health insurance is only available to those in formal employment.
69.
Health services in Mozambique are provided at the primary level by health posts and
health centres. In 2011, the national health system had approximately 1,400 health units
distributed across the country; first level or basic health centres account for 1,314 of those
units. Less than 60 per cent of the population had access to those basic health services and
the average distance to a health unit is about 10 km.
70.
The remainder of the population is covered by alternative support networks, such as
traditional healers, community health agents, elementary agents and traditional birth
attendants, who constitute a central component of the primary health-care system.
Traditional healers are often the first recourse for people facing a health emergency. In
addition, a very small part of the population is covered by private health care, mainly
concentrated in the big cities.31
71.
Older persons are entitled to free inpatient admittance in general and central public
hospitals as well as free outpatient services. They are also legally exempt from paying for
most medication at health centres. That is administered upon presentation of a valid
national identification card. It appears that exemption is not always honoured, but that older
persons are often asked to pay for services and that medicines, especially adequate
medication for conditions faced by older persons such as chronic and non-communicable
diseases, are often not available at all or in very limited quantities only at public health
services, forcing older persons to obtain medicine from private pharmacies. 32 They may
also have recourse to traditional medicines, which are widely used.
72.
Older persons, particularly those with limited mobility and little family support, also
face significant expenses in order to reach health facilities. The costs of transport are
especially high for people in rural communities and those needing a carer to accompany
them to a health facility. There is also a noticeable disparity in access to health services
between rural and urban areas. Older persons living in rural areas face larger distances,
particularly in cases where more specialized health care is required, and have more limited
transport options.
73.
Most Mozambican households, particularly those in rural areas, are composed of
extended families, where two or three generations live together, care for each other and,
when needed, pay the health and education costs of household members. Support from
family, friends and neighbours may also include material support for the payment of
medication. Older persons, particularly women, rely heavily on their daughters-in-law to
provide them with support and care. Faith- and community-based organizations have a
central supporting role, but coverage is patchy and often ad hoc, as they lack the
infrastructure, human resources and secure funding to provide such services.33
30
31
32
33
12
Ibid.
See Ministério de Saúde Plano Estratégico do Sector de Saúde (PESS) para 2014–2019 (September
2013), available from www.medbox.org/plano-estrategico-do-sector-da-saude-pess-20142019/preview?q=.
HelpAge International, “The right to health in old age: unavailable, inaccessible and unacceptable”
(August 2011).
Divina de Fátima dos Santos, Flamínia Manzano and Moreira Lodovici “Pessoas idosas em
Moçambique: com a palavra de Teresinha da Silva”, Kairós Gerontologia, vol. 14, No. 6 (December
2011).
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