Using LiST for nutrition planning in Mozambique

From 4-8 June 2018, two LiST team members travelled to Maputo, Mozambique to lead a training specifically on the potential applications of LiST for nutrition. Task team members of the Plataforma Nacional de Saude Maternal e das Crianças e Nutrição (PNSMCN - National Platform for Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition) of Mozambique’s National Health Observatory attended this training to re-familiarize themselves with the tool, and to look at ways that LiST can be used to analyze performance and plan strategically in Mozambique’s nutrition sector. Representatives from the Instituto Nacional de Saude (INS), UNICEF, the Secretariado Técnico de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (SETSAN), the Instituto Superior de Ciências de Saúde (ISCISA) and the Direcção Planificação e Cooperação (MISAU-DPC) actively participated in the 5-day workshop. 

LiST has been used in Mozambique in the context of the National Evaluation Platform, a Global Affairs Canada-funded initiative from 2014-2018 to equip government decision-makers with the tools and skills to critically evaluate the state of maternal, newborn, and child health and nutrition (MNCH&N) in their countries. Empowered with evidence, policy and program leaders could make strategic decisions that lead to maximum health and nutrition impact for women and children.

LiST was used specifically to answer two questions: (1) What change has been seen in under-five and neonatal mortality since 1997 and to what interventions contributed to the decrease in under-five mortality? What interventions should be scaled up and invested in to further address child mortality? and (2) What interventions account for the reduction in maternal mortality to date and what interventions should be strengthened to produce further improvements in maternal lives saved? The team submitted a detailed report on the methodology and results to the platform’s High-Level Advisory Committee, and two publications accepted in the Journal of Global Health are forthcoming.

Based on this experience, the NEP was used as the launching platform for the PNSMCN which is being implemented with funding support from the European Commission from 2017-2020. The purpose of this endeavor is to extend and strengthen the capacity of the PNSMCN to identify, analyze, and report on data related to nutrition policies and programs in Mozambique.

This first technical workshop focused on using LiST as a tool to estimate the potential contribution of the health system towards achieving better nutrition outcomes. Over the course of the workshop, the team used LiST to estimate how Mozambique will perform with regards to global WHA nutrition targets as well as against their national nutrition targets expressed in the Plano De Acção Multissectorial Para A Redução Da Desnutrição Crónica Em Moçambique (PAMRDC – Multisectoral plan to reduce stunting in Mozambique) based on current and aspirational intervention coverage levels. Once finalized and approved, the resulting policy brief will be available on the INS – the PNSMCN’s lead implementing organization – website and serve as an evidence-based foundation for future nutrition programming in Mozambique.