Mozambique’s president called for hospitals in Mozambique not to be destroyed, pointing out that the infrastructure is public and serves the people.
“These hospitals don’t belong to Renamo [the opposition], they don’t belong to Frelimo [the ruling party], they belong to Mozambicans (…),” said Filipe Nyusi, during the inauguration on Tuesday of the Sussundenga District Hospital, in Manica province, as part of the presidential programme “One District, One Hospital”.
At least 472 health facilities have been destroyed as a result of climatic events in Mozambique since 2019 and another 32 were destroyed during terrorist attacks that have affected the province of Cabo Delgado since 2017, according to official figures released by the Mozambican government on Monday.
In addition to asking the population not to destroy health facilities, especially in a context of a wave of protests against the election results marked by episodes of vandalisation of public buildings, the Mozambican head of state asked the population not to persecute health officials.
“In Mogovolas, in Nampula province, they are persecuting doctors, including foreigners. They burned down hospital centres because they believed the doctors were bringing cholera (…) We don’t want these things. It’s better to defend our achievements, including our nurses and doctors,” he added.
According to official figures, Mozambique now provides direct hospital coverage to at least 4.4 million people, with the population ratio for each hospital unit falling from 17,514 patients in 2019 to 16,393 for one health unit in 2024.
According to the Mozambican government, in the context of the presidential initiative “One District, One Hospital”, the distance travelled in rural areas to reach a health unit was reduced from 12 to 10 kilometres from 2019 to 2023.
In the contestation of the Mozambican electoral process, which has been going on since 21 October, led by candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who doesn’t recognise the results, almost 300 people have died. Almost 600 have been shot, and several public and private institutions have been vandalised.
Source: Lusa
