Mozambican health authorities have announced a plan to digitize 63 health facilities as part of a broader strategy to modernize the country’s health system, introduce artificial intelligence and expand telemedicine services, funded by a $40 million World Bank disbursement.
José Manuel, national director of planning in the Ministry of Health, announced the initiative on the sidelines of the country’s first Digital Conference on the health sector in Maputo. He said the project aims to progressively reduce the need for patients to travel to health facilities by enabling remote consultations from home.
“We intend that, progressively, some patients will no longer need to travel to health units, being able to have consultations from home,” Manuel said. “The digitization is already under way, with pilot projects in reference health units.”
The pilot phase is taking place at Mavalane General Hospital in Maputo, with conditions also established for implementation at Quelimane and Beira Central Hospitals. Manuel stressed that the initiative’s success depends on more than infrastructure. “It is not enough to digitize health units. It is necessary to train professionals and improve the population’s knowledge of these tools,” he said.
Under a memorandum with the U.S. government, the project is planned to expand to approximately 800 health units over the next five years. Manuel said conditions are already in place for the digitization of 863 health units out of approximately 1,900 in the country.
Minister of Communications and Digital Transformation Américo Muchanga said digital health is integrated into the government’s broader public administration modernization strategy. “The use of emerging technologies could significantly improve access to services, especially in remote areas. Digitization can allow the few existing health centers to serve distant populations, in addition to supporting clinical diagnosis and hospital management,” he said.
