CD Saude stakeholders discuss experiences and lessons learned

Representatives of the Provincial and District Health Directorates in Cabo Delgado province, civil society organizations, and non-governmental organizations - partners of Helvetas Mozambique, gathered on the 10th and 11th of this month for a workshop on the second stage of documenting experiences, lessons, and learning from the Health Promotion Support project in Cabo Delgado.

The workshop focused on the two main approaches of the project, namely WASH FIT (a tool for Continuous Improvement of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Conditions in healthcare facilities, WHO/UNICEF 2022) and Direct Support to healthcare facilities in communities. Through analysis and discussions in groups and plenary sessions on using WASH FIT since 2022, this capitalization exercise aims to ensure continuity and learning about the changes achieved by the project, as well as to contribute to their adoption in public health policies and their expansion to other regions of the country.

In addition to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), the WASH FIT tool covers five critical areas that support the prevention and control of health care acquired infections, namely, Waste Management, Environmental Cleaning, Workforce, and Energy. The Direct Support approach consists of transferring funds through the District Health, Women's, and Action Services for minor repairs and the purchase of hygiene and cleaning materials for healthcare facilities, which, due to legal limitations, do not have the autonomy to receive and manage funds directly.

"I would like to highlight some positive aspects that we discussed during this event: the first has to do with the integration of healthcare facilities priorities into the Economic and Social Plans of our districts (PESOD), which is a gain regardless of whether it comes from the state budget or an external source. Second, we must also continue to ensure transparency at all times. At the central level, we will create conditions for advocacy with other partners in order to, first, maintain the adoption of this (WASH FIT) tool in the districts working with the project and, perhaps one day, secure a budget for its expansion to other healthcare facilities," said Sarifo Sussesco, representative of the Provincial Health Directorate of Cabo Delgado.

The Health Promotion Project is funded by the Swiss Embassy in Mozambique and implemented by Helvetas in coordination with the Provincial Government of Cabo Delgado.