In Mogovolas, a rural district in northern Mozambique’s Nampula province, people face a difficult combination of climate extremes, fragile health systems, and diseases the world often forgets.
The rainy season's floods damage fields and fragile infrastructure, creating conditions that contribute to the spread of illnesses like schistosomiasis and lymphatic filariasis—diseases for which there is little investment in research, treatment, or global funding despite their significant impact. Between 2022 until mid-2025, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) carried out a set of health activities in response to these challenges, aiming to strengthen local capacity and improve access to care.
As we reach the planned conclusion of MSF’s work in this region of Mozambique, here are five key things to know about the situation and what’s still needed to ensure people continue to get the care they need.
MSF response in Nampula
- More than 1,800 blood transfusions were provided to patients in need, including those with severe malaria-related anemia.
- Over 45,000 patient consultations were supported by MSF teams. More than 102,000 people were reached through health promotion and community education activities.
- Nearly 19,700 cases of neglected tropical diseases were diagnosed and treated, including over 12,000 scabies cases, more than 6,300 genitourinary schistosomiasis cases, and 856 cases of lymphatic filariasis.
- 18 hydrocele surgeries were successfully performed in 2024, offering long-awaited relief to men who had lived for years with pain, swelling, and stigma.
*All figures reflect MSF activities between 2022 and 2024.
1 | Interventions must be climate-conscious
Climate extremes in Nampula province do not only damage roads and crops—they foster the spread of waterborne and parasitic diseases like schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, cholera, and malaria. These diseases were already endemic in the region, but irregular rainfall patterns, prolonged droughts, and the depletion of groundwater—all worsened by climate change—have created even more favorable conditions for their spread and persistence in recent years. In this context, MSF’s approach was twofold: treat the diseases and address the conditions that allow them to thrive.
“MSF teams supported rural health centers across eight locations to treat neglected diseases and worked closely with local communities to better understand and respond to climate-sensitive health needs,” explains Nelson Nuvunga, an MSF nurse who worked in this project for three years.
Our teams rehabilitated water points, equipped health facilities with solar power, and improved drainage systems. These were not temporary fixes but long-term investments that have helped reduce exposure to contaminated water, lower the risk of disease transmission, and ensure more reliable and continued access to health care in remote areas through the use of solar power.
2 | Communities and patients must be centered
Rather than simply delivering care, MSF puts communities and patients at the heart of our health care response. Volunteers and health promoters were trained to visit homes, teach self-care techniques, and detect illness early, turning prevention into a shared responsibility. This approach not only fostered trust but also led to earlier diagnosis, better adherence to treatment, and ultimately improved quality of patient care.
“When MSF first arrived in our community, I couldn’t walk uphill or carry a child,” recalls Ancha Faqui, a woman living with lymphedema. “I also had trouble doing housework because of the pain. But now I’m much better, thanks to the exercises they taught us.”
Through community-based groups, patients like Ancha learned to clean and massage affected limbs, perform therapeutic exercises, and support one another—restoring not just mobility, but dignity and agency. Over time, many of the patients became fully capable of managing their conditions independently, recognizing early symptoms, preventing complications, and even guiding others in their communities through self-care practices and timely referral for treatment.
3 | Neglected tropical diseases need more attention
Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are often treatable but ignored because they mostly affect the poorest and most remote communities, where limited political interest, scarce funding, and weak health systems mean these diseases receive little attention. MSF supported eight health centers with diagnosis and treatment for scabies, schistosomiasis, and lymphatic filariasis. To support patients with severe malaria, our teams also established a local blood bank at Nametil health center to reduce delays and ensure safe blood transfusions.
Between 2023 and 2024, MSF supported the Ministry of Health with surgery for men affected by hydrocele, a stigmatized and isolating condition. MSF also constructed and equipped a fully functional operating theater to carry out hydrocele surgeries. The facility can continue to be used in the long term for surgeries and other secondary health care needs in the community. Our small but meaningful intervention changed the lives of some of the people afflicted by this condition and helped draw attention to the need for continued care in this area.
Neglected tropical diseases: What are they and how can they be stopped?
Learn moreAddressing the condition not only restored patients' physical health and mental health, but also dignity and a sense of normalcy for those affected. “I found out about MSF during the health talks session they gave here,” shares Alfredo Augusto, one of the patients who was treated by MSF. ”The community leader helped me register for surgery. Since then, everything has improved. I’m back to doing the work I couldn’t do before, and my family is happy too.”
4 | Quick action is necessary in times of crisis
When cyclones Ana, Gombe, Freddy, Fillipo, and Jude hit Mozambique, raising the threat of cholera, MSF mobilized rapidly. Working with local authorities, we deployed mobile clinics, distributed emergency water treatment supplies, and set up cholera treatment centers capable of treating hundreds.
From preparedness trainings to emergency hygiene kits, MSF responded not just to the disaster, but to its long-term health implications.
5 | The spirit of collaboration continues
Though MSF’s operational presence in Nampula is ending, the tools and knowledge dispatched through our work remain. Self-care guides for lymphatic filariasis, community steering committees, and cholera training kits have been adopted by the Ministry of Health.
“This was more than a medical intervention—it was a shared effort to restore trust, dignity, and the belief that care can reach even the most remote places,” says Luis Neira, MSF’s head of mission in Mozambique. “Yet we must acknowledge that many challenges remain, from persistent gaps in access to care, to the continuing threat of climate-related health emergencies. Moving forward, it will be essential for national health actors and partners to continue addressing these challenges through coordinated and sustained efforts.”
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MSF in Mozambique
MSF continues to provide medical-humanitarian aid in Mozambique, with ongoing projects in Cabo Delgado province. MSF is also involved in epidemic preparedness and response, particularly for diseases outbreaks and extreme weather emergencies.We remain committed to adapting our activities to Mozambique’s evolving health needs as much as we can.
