Mozambique to receive 17 million dollars from Pandemic Fund

Maputo, 20 May (AIM) – Mozambican Health Minister Ussene Isse has announced that the country has been selected by the Pandemic Fund to receive 17 million US dollars to strengthen national capacities for preparedness, prevention, and response to epidemics and future pandemics.

The Pandemic Fund –which is a collaborative partnership hosted by the World Bank with World Health Organization (WHO) as technical lead – is a multilateral financing mechanism dedicated to providing multiyear grants for enhancing pandemic preparedness in low- and middle-income countries. The body was created after the COVID-19 pandemic to support countries in strengthening health security.

According to the minister, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the 79th World Health Assembly, held in Geneva, the executive director of the Pandemic Fund considered that Mozambique has achieved progress in controlling public health emergencies and strengthening the response to outbreaks and epidemics.

“The country made advances in the field of health security, approving the National Action Plan for Health Security, as well as building Public Health laboratories in all provinces, and creating the National Operational Center for Public Health Emergencies”, he said, cited by the independent paper ” O Pais”.

However, the minister said, the country is still among the countries most affected by extreme weather events, a situation that has contributed to the worsening of diseases and epidemic outbreaks, especially cholera.

Therefore, the government is focused on establishing a School of Public Health “as part of a strategy to strengthen international cooperation in the health sector and to mobilize partnerships to accelerate the modernization and resilience of the national health system.”

Am/