Mozambique: Japan donates USD 20 million to improve neonatal care

Login

Register

http://www.clubofmozambique.com/

Mozambique: Japan donates USD 20 million to improve neonatal care

5:20 CAT | 12 Sep 2022

Photo: Embaixada do Japão em Moçambique/在モザンビーク日本国大使館 / Facebook

The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) on Thursday pledged to disburse the sum of 20.1 million US dollars to finance the construction of a new neonatal care unit at the Maputo Central Hospital (HCM) in Mozambican.

To that end Minister of Foreign Affairs Veronica Macamo signed an agreement on behalf of the Mozambican Government and the Japanese Ambassador to Mozambique, Kimura Hajime.

The aim is to improve paediatric services provided by HCM the country’s largest public hospital.

Construction works are expected to start in 2024 and to be completed over a period of two years.

The new neonatal care unit building will provide for most of maternal and child care health services which are currently spread over a number of buildings such as maternity and paediatrics wards, among others. This is due to the lack of a single building to accommodate all services which will now be integrated in one single entity.

Speaking shortly after the signing ceremony, HCM’s general director Mouzinho Saide said that the new building will provide more space for incubators since one of the major cause of hospitalization in paediatrics wards was prematurity. It will also make for the installation of specialised operating theatres which will bring down waiting time.

The new infrastructure will also allow provision of accommodation for both babies and mothers in neonatology, which currently is not always possible. Furthermore, it will provide for more space for laboratories and training for health professionals.

“The unit will improve the Central Hospital’s capacity to provide for newborns and also render better services thanks to the provision of better equipment that will be installed”, he assured.

According to Saide, the donation comes on top of other ongoing projects in the health sectors in the country, also financed by the Japanese government seeking to achieve universal health coverage, with a special emphasis on the Mozambican President’s initiative: “One District, One Hospital”.

For his turn, the Japanese ambassador pointed out that the donation aims to improve paediatric services in Mozambique and reducing infant mortality through the construction of a neonatal care unit and provision of state-of-the-art hospital equipment to improve maternal and newborn health.

The diplomat also pointed out that Japan’s cooperation policy with Mozambique prioritizes human development, focused on improving public health as a condition for fighting poverty.

“We saw the need to improve the interconnection between neonatology, paediatrics and maternity services as a way to overcome obstacles in provision of neonatal care”, he said, adding that Mozambique has one of the highest birth rates in the world, hence the need to match the population growth.

Source: AIM