- Situation made worse by passage of Cyclone Chido and reduction in financial resources
By Noémia Mendes
Maputo (MOZTIMES) - The health service in Cabo Delgado faces chronic difficulties in guaranteeing an effective response to the needs of the population, warns the NGO, Doctors Without Borders (MSF,) in a report published recently.
The northern province was already suffering a lack of resources and from the fragility of the health system itself, but the situation became worse with the jihadist insurgency which has been plaguing Cabo Delgado province since 2017.
The passage of cyclone Chido through northern Mozambique, on 15 October, made matters worse, with 52 health units destroyed by the cyclone, says MSF in its report on the response to the emergency situation in the areas affected by the cyclone.
The MSF report stresses that, apart from the urgent need to repair the health facilities, many health centres are facing interruptions in the supply of basic services such as drinking water and electricity, which has made it difficult to attend to the public.
“This situation is worsened by the lack of attention given to the province, which is reflected in the reduction in financial resources, causing difficulties for the response of other humanitarian organisations which are already operating with scarce resources”, stresses the report.
In response to the crisis, MSF began an emergency operation in December 2024, in partnership with the Mozambican Health Ministry (MISAU), to offer medical care to the people affected by the storm. The organisation sent teams to the districts most affected (Pemba, Metuge and Mecufi) to assess the impact of the cyclone.
The official in charge of the MSF assessment team, Jacinta Francisco, said that all the health centres visited in Metuge and Mecúfi had been damaged by the cyclone, with medical services being provided in improvised tents.
“The health professionals in the region are overloaded, due to the high volume of work and the loss of resources”, said the MSF medical coordinator in Mozambique, Luisa Suárez. “We are particularly concerned with the potential spread of diseases such as cholera, which is endemic in the region”, stressed Suarez.
According to the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD), by 22 December cyclone Chido had affected 687,630 people mostly in Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Niassa provinces. There were 120 known deaths, 868 injuries, and the partial or complete destruction of 155,532 houses, 250 schools and 52 health units. (NM)
