Environmental Health Challenges in a Developing Country: Mozambique - a Literature Review

Environmental health is a major challenge facing Mozambican cities today due primarily to the high incidence of natural disasters, high population density, and the civil war which raged across the country until the early 1980s. As a result, large numbers of people migrated to the cities, resulting in poor infrastructure, poor access to services and a weak economy. Mozambique is now considered one of the poorest countries in the world (Oxfam 1997). Many aspects that affect the health and lifestyle of the population, such as roads, drinking water quality and sanitation facilities, education, employment and housing conditions, need to be improved. However, with the lack of resources it is difficult to respond to all issues simultaneously, making it necessary to set priorities. This paper describes the first phase of a research project that aimed to identify and prioritise the perceived environmental health needs in Maputo City, with the intent to assist the local government in planning services for its citizens. The process followed was consistent with the development of an Environmental Health Action Plan as espoused by WHO (1990). Although this paper is predominantly a literature review, the research did evolve to identify the perceived environmental health needs of both the residents of Maputo and the Environmental health practitioners who worked in the City. Variations of the priority issues between the target groups were identified, however, the findings showed that, in general, the majority of environmental health issues perceived as concerns were related to urbanisation and its consequences. This finding was supported by the first phase of the research, being the evidence sought from literature. Environmental health issues in developing countries are widespread and could be categorised as traditional environmental health, which relate to poverty and insufficient development. Such issues may include sanitation, access to potable water and nutritious and safe food, inadequate waste disposal and access to services. The universal environmental health issues of concern specific to Mozambique, as sourced from both the literature and the survey of residents and practitioners, included poor housing, lack of water, ineffective sanitation facilities, a lack of environmental health policy, erosion and unemployment.