Maputo, Aug. 14, 2026 (Lusa) - South Korea has provided $7.7 million (€6.6 million) for the construction of a district hospital in KaTembe, Maputo, with the aim of improving access to healthcare.
«Building a hospital in KaTembe will be a major boon. It will improve access and bring healthcare closer to the people. Pregnant women from KaTembe, for example, will be treated there and will not have to cross the bridge or take a boat to come here [to the centre of Maputo],» said Minister of Health Ussene Isse during the signing of a memorandum of understanding with South Korea in Maputo on Friday.
The project, in that area on the right bank of Maputo Bay, will be funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Mozambican authorities said. The hospital, which is expected to take five years to build, will include a maternity ward, a general surgery block and an inpatient ward, totalling 42 beds.
«This is what we must do: seek solutions for the Mozambican population,» declared the minister of health, adding that the Government will continue to make efforts to bring healthcare closer to the people.
«We will remain steadfast on this path, because people need our help and we must do everything to ensure better health and leave no one behind. We must work towards universal health coverage, which involves ensuring better access to services for the public," added Ussene Isse.
For his part, South Korea's Ambassador to Mozambique, Bok-Won Kang, stated that the future healthcare facility aims to help save lives and highlighted the progress made in bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
«I hope this project will enable residents of the region to have access to higher-quality healthcare services closer to their communities, whilst also contributing to a more balanced development of the city of Maputo,» said the diplomat.
At the same ceremony, South Korea handed over five ambulances to Mozambique to strengthen the response to medical emergencies, an area in which time is of the essence.
The minister of health emphasised that the vehicles will improve access to healthcare, particularly for women and children.
«One of the main causes of mortality in our country, particularly amongst pregnant women, is linked to the ‘three delays' model. The first delay occurs at community level, on the journey to the nearest health centre. These ambulances therefore play a very important role in transferring patients from one health centre to another,» explained Ussene Isse.
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