IOM yesterday, together with District Health services, inaugurated an Emergency Inpatient Public Health Centre in Montepuez district, an area that has in the past seven months received nearly 40,000 internally displaced people from ongoing insecurity in Cabo Delgado province. 

The 24-bed inpatient centre will function as an extension of the District Central Hospital of Montepuez, increasing its capacity to admit and treat patients. The centre is located adjacent to the hospital and was created with the intention to serve as a COVID-19 isolation centre. 

“This centre is of great importance to cut the chain of transmission of COVID-19. Therefore, cases requiring hospitalization shall be adequately isolated limiting the risk of contamination to healthcare workers and patients,” said H.E. Secretary of State for Cabo Delgado, Professor Armindo Ngunga. “With IOM’s support, the COVID-19 centre of Montepuez was rehabilitated and once more operational.”

Director of Montepuez District Services for Health, Women and Social Action, Dr. João Andala said: “Due to the arrival of thousands of displaced families, the current health infrastructure is not enough to support the needs in Montepuez, especially for pediatric services. This inpatient centre will expand our capacity to provide treatment and space for admitted patients, and provide increased space in case of disease outbreak.”

“In Montepuez there is clear need for a suitable and equipped facility to prepare and respond to a potential COVID-19 outbreak. Thousands of displaced families require immediate health and humanitarian assistance. The new facility will also support the health authorities in attending to emerging health needs,” said IOM Mozambique Chief of Mission Laura Tomm-Bonde.

“IOM is pleased to collaborate with the Government of Mozambique to increase the health system capacity in Cabo Delgado to respond to the pressing needs of internally displaced people and host communities.”

When the renovation processes began in May 2020 the centre was envisioned as an isolation space to treat COVID-19 patients. Thankfully the number of COVID-19 cases has been lower than expected, therefore the centre will function as a multipurpose ward for inpatients. In case of communicable disease cases or outbreaks, such as COVID-19, measles, or cholera, the centre can be used for isolation. Situated along the national migration corridor, Cabo Delgado is identified as a high-risk area for COVID-19. 

The facility was built some years ago as a cholera treatment centre but needed significant rehabilitation to serve as a COVID-19 inpatient centre. IOM completely refurbished and equipped the building, including beds, medical equipment, kitchen, incinerator, pharmacy, changing room, elevated water supply system and outdoor space for patients’ families and visitors. The centre has 24 beds, in three wards, and just over 1,000 square metres of space, and will increase the capacity of the district to admit and care for patients. The inpatient centre was made possible through the financial support of the Government of Ireland and the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

IOM handed over the building to the District Services for Health, Women and Social Action. The centre is incorporated into the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 preparedness and response plan to support Montepuez district to upgrade its capacity to care for COVID-19 patients in case of a surge.

As part of its support to Cabo Delgado province COVID-19 response plan, IOM also has supported the rehabilitation of an area of the Inpatient Centre for Patients with COVID-19 (CICOV) "18 de Outubro" in Pemba city; this being a joint rehabilitation work implemented with different partners.

In total Mozambique has recorded 16,521 COVID-19 cases, with 14,715 recoveries and 139 deaths (as of 10 December). Cabo Delgado was among the first provinces to notify of COVID-19 cases and has recorded 998 COVID-19 cases, with 918 recovered, two deaths and 77 active cases (as of 10 December 2020). This is the third-highest number of cases by province, following Maputo and Zambezia.

From September to October, the number of internally displaced persons in Montepuez district increased by over 10,000 individuals, from over 32,000 to over 42,000; this is a dramatic increase from April 2020 when over 3,000 IDPs were recorded in Montepuez.

IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) reports that a total of more than 424,000 individuals were displaced due to insecurity in Cabo Delgado (as of late September 2020). 

IOM, with the support of its partners, has assisted nearly 400,000 individuals affected by insecurity and Cyclone Kenneth in Cabo Delgado from April 2019 to October 2020.

For more information, please contact: 
Sascha Nlabu, IOM Mozambique Head of Programmes and Operations; Email: snlabu@iom.intor Sandra Black, Media and Communications Officer; Tel: +258 84 494 4359, Email: sblack@iom.int