“Activa-te” campaign promotes the Right to Health in Mozambique
The “Activa-te” National Activism and Right to Health Campaign was the first campaign organized by the Alliance for Health, with the technical support of medicusmundi, and the aim of contributing to the education and awareness of citizens and local authorities on Activism and Right to Health.
This campaign focused on the areas of Right to Health, Obstetric Violence, Improvement of Services for Women Victims of GBV, Rights and Duties of the Patient, Sexual Diversity and Positive Masculinities, with a special focus on obtaining positive effects for the strengthening of the System National Health.
Launched in February 2022, it lasted for practically 1 year, with a clear commitment to change and social transformation. Above all, with the aim of generating notoriety at the level of the National Health System and awareness of the Right to Health on the part of both the citizens of Maputo and at a national level, through dissemination on the internet and social networks.
Throughout 2022, the campaign placed greater emphasis on educating and raising public awareness about the Universal Right to Health, projecting, through the following topics, information of great interest on rights in the provision of public health services:
- Availability, Accessibility, Quality of services and more humane care
- Improvement of GBV services
- Raising awareness and advocacy for more human and financial resources in GBV
- The elimination of gender-based violence and forced marriages
- The Right to Health
- Greater visibility and awareness of users' rights and duties, and revision of the Charter of Rights and Duties
- Respect and inclusion of sexual diversity in health services
- Promoting respect for LGBTI+ groups
- Positive masculinities and male involvement in health issues
The media, including mass media (radio and television), social networks, printed materials (leaflets and brochures), external media, etc., were the tools used to convey the messages and raise awareness. Social media was also used as a great vehicle to expand the reach of policy impact and communication activities for social and behaviour change to a wider and more diverse audience.
The campaign produced an audio-visual series called “Activa-te”, which is a television series designed for all age groups, with greater emphasis on young people and teenagers. The images and lines in the series project the human side of adolescents, young people and adults, leaving behind the idea that all forms of human rights violations affect the living conditions and health of Mozambican women, boys and girls.
In six episodes, the series shows that Mozambicans have dreams and expectations for the future, they want to contribute to building a future that respects human rights and the right to health, to be trained, to have a job and good quality of life. But these dreams may be suddenly interrupted if the Universal Right to Health is not known and respected. In addition to the audio-visual series, 12 radio programs with the same themes were also produced and broadcasted by Rádio Índico.
Other advocacy actions and defence of the right to health were carried out, supporting the Citizen's Observatory for Health, in the presentation to the Assembly of the Republic of a petition for the revision and updating of the Charter of Rights and Duties of the Patient, with a view to its conversion into law.
As part of the “Activa-te” campaign, closer to citizenship, several community activities were also held, such as: the Activism Fair for the Right to Health in Campo Municipal do Zimpeto, in April 2022; the SaudArte cultural soiree, also in April 2022; a civil society position in defence of women's rights, in July 2022, together with Fórum Mulher and other organizations; and, finally, the 2nd International Film Festival on Health and Rights, from July to September 2022.
In 2023, it is intended that the "Activa-te" Campaign will have a second phase of promotion of the Right to Health, which will focus on the dissemination and debates on the Activa-te Series and a more institutional advocacy movement with government bodies.
The "Activa-te" Campaign was carried out with the financial support of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) under the terms of the Agreement 18-CO1-1096 «Improve the health of the population, with a focus on its Social Determinants and a special focus on nutrition , through the strengthening of Primary Health Care as the best strategy to guarantee the Right to Health and the collaboration of civil society, research institutions and the SNS». The content of this news is the sole responsibility of medicusmundi and the Alliance for Health and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of AECID.
