Ondjiva – The completion of the new Ondjiva General Hospital (HGO) in the southern Cunene Province, which was initially scheduled for March this year, has been postponed to May, said Tuesday the Minister of Health, Sílvia Lutucuta.
After a fact-finding visit to the infrastructure, she emphasised that it would not be possible to inaugurate it in March, as planned, because there is still work in progress that needs to be supervised.
For this reason, the minister said that a delegation from the ministry had been set up with the aim of being stationed for a while in the province for closer supervision of the works.
Sílvia Lutucuta clarified that the works recorded constraints regarding the arrival of some goods from Luanda, which are already in the province, adding that the contractor with the collaboration of all stakeholders, must have different dynamics in order to complete the work in a timely manner.
With regard to staff, the minister said that the situation is under control, as some doctors are currently in training.
She recalled that there are several health professionals from Cunene who are in training in other provinces as part of a process resulting from administrative exchanges with other reference health centres in the country.
The minister assured that the Ministry of Health has an ambitious staff training programme until 2027, which foresees the specialisation of 38,000 professionals at various levels.
She explained that six reference hospitals had been built in the country, namely in the provinces of Cabinda, Luanda, Bengo and Bié, and that work was underway on other hospitals in Cunene, Cuanza-Norte, Cuanza-Sul, Uíge, Zaire, Huambo, Benguela, Malanje, Lunda-Norte and Huila.
He also pointed out that the country has more than 3,000 functional health units, and that 50% of the 370 projects linked to the sector under the Integrated Intervention Plan for Municipalities (PIIM) have been completed.
During her visit to the infrastructure, Sílvia Lutucuta checked the various compartments under construction and received explanations from the contractor about the progress of the work.
The director of works supervision, Cundissa Neto, said that the financial execution of the contract is around 99% and the physical execution is 97%, with the assembly of medical and non-medical equipment.
Ondjiva General Hospital
With a capacity to admit 220 patients, the construction of the new HGO cost 52 million euros, including its equipment (one euro is equivalent to around 900 kwanzas).
The infrastructure is being built on an area of 60,000 square metres, since May 2021, and has 26 blocks, four inpatient units, the same number of operating theatres, a blood bank, a psychiatric ward and eight residences for doctors.
The new facility will provide various services such as paediatrics, obstetrics, endoscopy, biology, ophthalmology, stomatology, emergency, minor surgery, X-ray, CT and psychiatry.
The HGO will replace the old hospital, destroyed by a fire in October 2020, which completely damaged the surgery area and the oxygen storage station.
Since the fire, the services of the Ondjiva General Hospital have been transferred to the Cuanhama Municipal Hospital, with capacity for 70 beds, in the Ekuma neighbourhood, on the outskirts of Ondjiva.
LHE/IZ/MRA/jmc
