Construction and Upgrading of Health Infrastructure

Bringing maternal, child, and primary health care closer to rural communities in Cabo Delgado

Mozambique continues to face significant challenges in providing accessible health care, particularly in the rural areas where 76% of Cabo Delgado’s population lives. These challenges are compounded by geographic isolation, infrastructure deficits, and severe shortages of frontline health personnel.

Maternal and neonatal mortality remain high. Neonatal mortality is estimated at around 26 deaths per 1,000 live births nationally, while infant mortality in Cabo Delgado stands at 74 deaths per 1,000 live births – well above the national average. Many rural health facilities operate without reliable electricity or water; in some, maternity wards function without power, forcing staff to deliver babies by the light of a mobile phone.

Building and upgrading facilities is the precondition for everything else: safe deliveries, cold-chain vaccines, basic consultations, and a platform for community-based services.

Sources: Provincial Directorate of Health, Cabo Delgado; Ministry of Health (MISAU); WHO; UNICEF.

The program strengthens health infrastructure in Cabo Delgado through coordinated interventions: the construction of multipurpose community health posts in underserved rural districts; the upgrade of the Murrébué Health Centre; and the construction and equipping of a new maternity ward within it. All facilities follow the Ministry of Health standard designs, include solar-powered access to water and electricity, and are integrated into the national Community Health Subsystem Strategy.

Interventions are aligned with Pillars II and III of the National Development Strategy, the Community Health Subsystem Strategy (2022), and the Resilience and Integrated Development Program (PREDIN).

Mecúfi District

In coordination with other partners, the Foundation resumed the construction and full equipping of a new maternity ward at the Murrébué Health Centre, as part of the Government-funded upgrade of the center from a Type II to a Type I facility. The work, previously halted, was relaunched through a renewed partnership with the Cabo Delgado Provincial Health Directorate.

The maternity will provide essential maternal and neonatal care, ensuring safer deliveries, improved emergency response, and expanded primary health services for women and newborns – directly contributing to national priorities for reducing maternal and child mortality.

8 districts

To reduce child mortality and malnutrition, eight multipurpose community health posts are planned across eight of Cabo Delgado’s districts: Mocímboa da Praia, Palma, Mueda, Chiúre, Meluco, Metuge, Montepuez, and Nangade. Six are currently under construction. Each post follows the Ministry of Health standard designs, includes solar-powered water and electricity, and provides basic consultations, maternal and child health services, and referral to higher-level care – serving as a platform for other community-based activities.