Luanda – Angola’s President of the Republic, João Lourenço, announced Friday the opening of the new Ondjiva General Hospital, in the province of Cunene, within 15 days.
Speaking to the press, after the inauguration of the General Hospital of Cacuaco “Heróis do Kifangonfo”, João Lourenço recalled that the new hospital unit replaces the previous one partially destroyed by a fire that occurred in 2020.
He recalled that the Luau Municipal Hospital was recently opened, in the province of Moxico, replacing one that had also been destroyed by fire.
Work on the new Ondjiva General Hospital, in the Naipalala III neighborhood, budgeted at 52 million euros, began in 2021.
The hospital will have services in Pediatrics, Obstetrics, Endoscopy, Ophthalmology, Stomatology, Emergency, Surgery, Simple and computerized supports.
Human Resources
The human resources component that will ensure the operation of the new Ondjiva hospital has been taken care of. To this end, 45 doctors practiced various specialties outside the province and others at local level.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Health mobilized some more experienced specialists to ensure the services of the new hospital.
Employees will gradually be hired, until the normal staff is completed, which is more than 1,300 professionals.
The hospital, with 26 blocks, will have four inpatient units, an equal number of operating rooms, a hemodialysis unit with 12 chairs, a blood bank, psychiatric hospitalization, including eight residences for doctors. The health unit will have 220 beds.
Growth of the National Health System
The construction of hospitals, centers and health posts aims to ensure that health services reach everyone who needs them.
Since 2017, the government has invested in the construction, expansion and rehabilitation of more than 163 new health units, of which 155 are for primary care. In this way, bed capacity increased from a minimum of 13,426 to 37,808 in the period from 2017 to 2022.
Access to primary health care tripled, from 25% to 70%.
The National Health Service currently has 13 Central and Specialty Hospitals, six Institutes, 26 General and Provincial Hospitals, 172 Municipal Hospitals, 800 Health Centers and 2,311 Health Posts, totaling 3,325 units.
In 2017, only three provinces had specialized hemodialysis services, while in 2022 this number increased to ten provinces, with a capacity to serve more than three thousand users per week. Eight national reference hospitals were built from scratch.
Therefore, the project portfolio at central level foresees 31 public investment projects, with emphasis on 14 general hospitals, three tertiary level maternal and child hospitals, 10 specialized treatment units, with emphasis on the future hospitals of “Burnings, Oncology, Traumatology and Ophthalmology.
The Neves Bendinha Specialized Hospital, the General Hospital of Caxito, Viana, the Main Military Hospital have already been reopened and there is a prospect of opening the general hospitals of Sumbe, Ondjiva, Noalatando, the Pedalé General Hospital (in Luanda) and the Hospital Municipal Luau.
The Catumbela, Bailundo, Dundo and Malanje General Hospitals will also be built, and the Mbanza Kongo General Hospital will be completed.
At the local level within the scope of PIIM, 163 health units are under construction that will increase coverage at proximity levels. In the last legislature alone, 41,093 new professionals joined the public health service, including doctors, nurses, diagnostic and therapeutic technicians, hospital support technicians and general regime technicians.
Practically all doctors trained in the country and abroad were qualified and around 80% of employees were placed in municipalities and 53,461 employees in the health sector were promoted. By 2027, it is expected to hire around 10,800 doctors and 78,500 nurses to join the health units under construction and to be built. ART/DOJ
