Maternal death, AIDS and orphans (Mozambique)

AIDS is the most recent and deadly of sexually transmitted diseases, which generated high morbidity and mortality among those of reproductive age in the 1980s. In Mozambique around 800,000 women are infected with AIDS, determining high levels of transmission and death. The large proportion of orphans registered in many African populations is one of the most dramatic consequences of AIDS. The rate of orphans from all causes (including maternal death and AIDS) is higher in Mozambique than in other African states. In 2014 it was estimated that there were 1,800,000 orphans in the country, a third of them as a result of AIDS.

Life expectancy in the country rose from 49 in 1985 to almost 58 in 2015, which reflects an improvement in the situation.