Intensifying Action to Address HIV and Tuberculosis in Mozambique's Cross-Border Mining Sector

Abstract

The southern provinces of Mozambique have some of the world's highest recorded levels of HIV and tuberculosis (TB). They are also characterized by high levels of cross-border migration, particularly to mines in South Africa. Through the Declaration on Tuberculosis in the Mining Sector in August 2012, heads of state of the Southern African Development Community showed an increased commitment to addressing TB and HIV among migrant mine workers, but there is much left to do. This article analyzes the importance of recent policy developments, both regional and national. We report new research from 2011–2012 on health-related attitudes and behaviors of Mozambican mine workers and their families and present an estimate of the financial burden of disease related to migrant mine work for Mozambique's public services and migrant-sending communities. We recommend that the Declaration be operationalized and enforced. Practical measures should include training of health workers in migrants' right to health; user-friendly health information in Portuguese and local languages; building the advocacy capacity of mine workers' representatives; and more attention to social, cultural, and economic factors that affect migrant mine workers' health, including better access to health information and services and livelihoods for wives, widows, and orphans in communities of origin.