(ANSA) – ROMA, 10 MAG – Italy is committed to Abidjan in favour of the health of mothers and children in the Ivory Coast. Two initiatives to this end were presented at the Abobo Town Hall, implemented as part of the Mattei Plan, which see the involvement of the University of Padua and the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, in partnership with Doctors with Africa Cuamm, and the support of the Italian Cooperation, implemented in close collaboration with the Ivorian health authorities.
The first intervention aims at upgrading the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Regional Hospital Centre in Abobo and strengthening the Urban Health Facilities. With an estimated population of around 750,000 inhabitants, Abobo represents a rapidly expanding urban context. The Hospital Centre, which registered 8,000 deliveries in 2024 alone, is faced with a growing demand for services, in a situation of heavy overcrowding. Hence, the need to strengthen the maternity and neonatology units, provide a blood bank and oxygen centre.
The second intervention involves strengthening the technical and functional support of 30 denominational health facilities belonging to the Union of Religious for Health and Social Work in Côte d’Ivoire, improving their integration into the national health system. “These initiatives are an extraordinary example of partnership in a country that has become a priority for the Mattei Plan since 2024, demonstrating the strategic importance of Côte d’Ivoire for the development of the entire region,” said Stefano Gatti, Director General of Development Cooperation, who was visiting Abidjan leading a delegation from the Italian cooperation system.
Don Dante Carraro, Director of Doctors with Africa Cuamm, said: ‘We are here today not to stand on ceremony but to renew our commitment. We have a single, stubborn goal: we want no mother to die in childbirth, no baby to die in its first month of life. We know that we cannot save the world but we are determined to do our part’.
The Italian Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, Arturo Luzzi added: ‘By investing in Abobo’s health, we are investing in the living heart of Abidjan, and through Abidjan we are promoting the development of the whole of Côte d’Ivoire. Today, together, we are building the foundations of a fairer, more equitable and supportive society’. Also present at the presentation of the initiatives were Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Health, Pierre N’gou Dimba, and Annamaria Merola and Francesca Priolo representing the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
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The first intervention aims at upgrading the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Regional Hospital Centre in Abobo and strengthening the Urban Health Facilities. With an estimated population of around 750,000 inhabitants, Abobo represents a rapidly expanding urban context. The Hospital Centre, which registered 8,000 deliveries in 2024 alone, is faced with a growing demand for services, in a situation of heavy overcrowding. Hence, the need to strengthen the maternity and neonatology units, provide a blood bank and oxygen centre.
The second intervention involves strengthening the technical and functional support of 30 denominational health facilities belonging to the Union of Religious for Health and Social Work in Côte d’Ivoire, improving their integration into the national health system. “These initiatives are an extraordinary example of partnership in a country that has become a priority for the Mattei Plan since 2024, demonstrating the strategic importance of Côte d’Ivoire for the development of the entire region,” said Stefano Gatti, Director General of Development Cooperation, who was visiting Abidjan leading a delegation from the Italian cooperation system.
Don Dante Carraro, Director of Doctors with Africa Cuamm, said: ‘We are here today not to stand on ceremony but to renew our commitment. We have a single, stubborn goal: we want no mother to die in childbirth, no baby to die in its first month of life. We know that we cannot save the world but we are determined to do our part’.
The Italian Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, Arturo Luzzi added: ‘By investing in Abobo’s health, we are investing in the living heart of Abidjan, and through Abidjan we are promoting the development of the whole of Côte d’Ivoire. Today, together, we are building the foundations of a fairer, more equitable and supportive society’. Also present at the presentation of the initiatives were Côte d’Ivoire’s Minister of Health, Pierre N’gou Dimba, and Annamaria Merola and Francesca Priolo representing the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.
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