Mozambique

Under article 89 of the Constitution, citizens have the right to medical and health care under the terms of the law and the duty to promote and defend public health. In addition, the Constitution provides a right of "popular action" which includes the right for all citizens to take action, personally or through associations, and exert their right to promote the prevention, termination, or prosecution of offences against public health, consumer rights, environmental conservation and cultural heritage (art 81).

Under article 116 of the Constitution, the law shall lay down the procedures for providing medical and health care. In addition, the State is tasked to promote the participation of citizens and institutions in health, to extend medical and health access for all citizens, and to promote, regulate and control the production, commercialization and use of pharmaceutical products.
The title IV under the article 116, stets that medical and health care for citizens shall be organized through a national health system and mandates its principal rules.

No current national health policy was located in the country.

The main goal of the Strategic Plan for the Health Sector PESS 2014-2019 (2024) (Plano Estratégico do Sector da Saúde PESS 2014-2019 (2024)) is to improve the health conditions of all Mozambicans through a decentralized system that recognizes, empowers, and coordinates all stakeholders (pages 1-2).

The plan identifies several priorities, including reducing maternal and neonatal mortality, decreasing chronic malnutrition, reducing the burden of endemic diseases (such as malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis), sustaining gains in child mortality reduction, addressing non-communicable diseases and trauma, strengthening primary health care, and enhancing the health sector's capacity to respond to emergencies (page 48).

The document includes several references to legislative and regulatory sources for health such as the Constitution (pages xv, 6, 24), Law No 12/2017 of 8 September, Law on Medicines, Vaccines and Other Biological Products for Human Use (Lei No 12/2017 de 8 de Setembro, Lei do Medicamento, vacinas e outros produtos biológicos para uso humano) (page 38), Alcohol Consumption Act (Lei do consumo do Álcool) (page 75), etc.

The Strategic Plan proposes specific objectives and actions related to health legislation and regulation. For example, under the objective on traditional medicine, the plan establishes the need to complete legislation and regulation of the practice of traditional medicine in Mozambique and create and operationalize the National Council of Traditional Medicine (pages 92-93). In relation to the exercise of private health care, the document outlines the interventions and indicators on the review of the law and regulations governing the operation and professional registration of the practice of private medicine (page 98). Finally, the plan also proposes to disseminate and monitor the implementation of the hospital statute and regulations (page 99).