Introduction: Low-and-middle income countries are faced with a new challenge, disruption of healthcare services for people living with non-communicable diseases following climate-induced disasters. These are increasing in magnitude and frequency in countries such as Mozambique, where those diseases accounted for 36% of all deaths without the advent of disasters.

Objectives: This study provides an understanding of the challenges and opportunities to address non-communicable diseases facing disasters in Mozambique.

Methods: Key informants involved with past disaster preparedness and response, and with health and climate data surveillance work, as well as persons living with those diseases, were identified during a stakeholder mapping exercise. In Sofala, focus group discussions (n=2) with people living with the diseases and in-depth interviews with key informants (n=14) were conducted, recorded, transcribed, and translated. A rapid qualitative analysis approach was used to identify: challenges and facilitators to diseases management during the recent disasters; and data surveillance challenges and opportunities during disasters.

Results: Challenges to the management of these diseases during and following disasters were identified at a system and individual levels. People living with these diseases reported lack of transportation to health centers, loss of personal medical records, insufficient medication in the acute emergency phase, and stress due to loss of social support networks as major challenges. At a health systems level, challenges in the disaster response included lack of medical equipment required for diagnosis and management, lack of medication in mobile clinics, insufficient healthcare staff, increased hypertension rates among disaster survivors, and inability to provide long-duration (> 30 days) prescriptions.

Conclusions: As severe climate-induced disasters increase throughout Mozambique, the national government, as well as international humanitarian responders, need to shift to a more robust and sustainable emergency response plan that includes meeting the health needs of people living with these diseases.

Keywords: challenges, opportunities, non-communicable diseases, disasters