The African Development Bank (AfDB), through the Southern African Development Community (SADC), has made available to the World Health Organization (WHO) a donation of US$1.6 million to support the Ministry of Health (MoH) in the response to the covid-19 pandemic.

The support aims to contribute to strengthening the capacity of the MoH in diagnosis, case management and protection of health professionals.

These acquisitions were based on the needs expressed by senior staff at the Ministry of Health, and the process relied on strong collaboration from the Secretariat of Health. Southern African Development Community (SADC)through which the funds were forwarded to the WHO. This donation is composed, among others, of sanitary equipment and consumables.

The donation arrives in Mozambique at a time when the national health authorities are on alert due to an increasing detection rate of new variants characterized by high mortality, along with outbreaks of covid-19 cases in India and Brazil, countries that have strong links to Mozambique.

The WHO classifies the new variant as a Variant of Concern due to evidence of increased transmissibility.

We feel obliged to provide additional resources and our support to Mozambique in responding to this pandemic that is creating disruption in the lives of citizens and in all segments of society, mainly because the Mozambican economy is cyclically exposed to natural disasters. This partnership with WHO will complement the efforts of ADB and the Government that have been directed to the private sector and the national budget," emphasized ADB Representative in Mozambique, Pietro Toigo.

As for the WHO Representative in Mozambique, Joaquim Saweka, "this offer that, together with the African Development Bank, our long-time partner, we are officially delivering today to the Ministry of Health, is an expression of the WHO's commitment to ensure that the Government strengthens its capacity to allow the affected population access to covid 19 response services".