Tackling heroin use in Mozambique

Mozambique is a southern African country with a population of 31 million. For the past two decades, Mozambique has been a key transit point on the international drug route. Heroin is produced in Afghanistan and shipped through Pakistan, then moved by sea to east Africa and southern Africa, mostly destined for western markets. 10–40 tonnes of heroin are estimated to move through Mozambique each year, with an export value of US$20 million per tonne, making it one of the country's largest exports.

Although huge amounts of heroin have moved through the country for 20 years, Mozambique has historically had low rates of drug use compared with its neighbours, Kenya and Tanzania. But Government officials and health experts say that the tide has turned in Mozambique, with an increasing number of people turning to heroin.