Cooperation between Portugal and Mozambique has just opened a new chapter with the signing of a protocol aimed at strengthening the technical training and social standing of Mozambican pharmacists. The agreement, signed in Maputo, involves the Portuguese Pharmaceutical Society (OFP), the Mozambique Pharmacists’ Association (Afarmo) and the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (Anarme).
The agreement provides for ongoing training activities – including seminars, workshops and courses, in person or online – as well as communication campaigns aimed at raising public awareness of the pharmacist’s fundamental role and of the rational use of medicines.
According to the president of Afarmo, Bélia Muchanga, the training will be adapted to Mozambican reality, respecting the particularities of the country’s health system. “What the Society will do is pass on all the experience it has in the process of disseminating information to society. These programmes will be prepared jointly; what exists in Portugal will not simply be transferred to Mozambique”, she said.
Besides providing technical support to professionals, the OFP will collaborate in producing educational content to be broadcast on radio, television, digital platforms and health facilities. The aim is also to combat the practice of self-medication, still common in many regions of the country.
Mozambique still has no official Pharmaceutical Society, but efforts are under way to establish one by 2026, the date set to host the Congress of Pharmacists of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP). Afarmo, with 250 registered members out of 1,700 professionals recognised by Anarme, is leading this process.
In the view of the Afarmo leader, who is also president of the Association of Pharmacists of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (AFPLP), international cooperation is essential to tackle challenges such as the absence of specialisation courses in Mozambique, limited access to the labour market and the need to review the Single Salary Scale (TSU).
Muchanga also highlighted the need for curricular harmonisation within the CPLP: “All member countries have completely different realities in their health systems, but the professional must carry out the same actions. That is why we are doing this curricular assessment, to technically standardise pharmacists”.
The collaboration now established represents a firm step towards raising the standing of the pharmacy profession in Mozambique, with a direct impact on the quality of the services provided in the national health system.
