Background

Although Mozambique has been a politically stable country since the end of its civil war in 1992 and has witnessed steady economic and social progress since then, it continues to be one of the poorest and least developed countries in Africa. Maternal and child mortality remains unacceptably high as well as the incidence of HIV and other communicable diseases. Significant numbers of Mozambicans do not have access to basic health services. The Government of Mozambique is strongly committed to the Primary Health Care approach which focuses on providing basic services through the first two levels of health care provision; the health centres (level I) and level II referral hospitals. Potentially more than ninety percent of all cases can be effectively dealt with at these two levels provided that quality services and referral are assured. Investment in health infrastructure is essential to make these health services available in the entire country.  

 

Sofala is one of the provinces prioritized in this regard by the Mozambican government because its healthcare system has not been able to keep up with demographic developments and many of its 1,3 million inhabitants do not have access to health services. Currently the province has only four Level II hospitals and one central university hospital (level IV) in its capital Beira, which is chronically overcrowded with patients coming from the whole province. The building of a level II hospital in Beira is therefore foreseen in the Government Programme 2010-2014. The rural district of Marromeu was selected as a second priority location for the expansion of the health network in Sofala by the Ministry of Health of Mozambique (MISAU).  

 

MISAU invited a consortium composed of PharmAccess Foundation, AMPC International Health Consultants and Lantinga Consultancy to assist them in developing an application for co-financing of the proposed project under the Dutch ORIO Facility for Infrastructure Development, and to further develop the project if and when the project would be selected as eligible for an ORIO grant.

 

To ensure financing for and develop a comprehensive project plan aimed at the design, construction, equipment and operationalization of two level II hospitals in Sofala province, Mozambique.  

 

Approach

The ORIO application for the project was selected as eligible for a grant at the beginning of 2011. Currently, the development phase of the project is ongoing. Within the project consortium, AMPC will be mainly responsible for the technical development of the two hospitals including, among others, the medical functional plans, architectonic design and engineering requirements, equipment specifications for all departments and services, and comprehensive maintenance programmes.  

 

2010: ORIO grant application

2011: ORIO grant awarded, project development is currently ongoing