Growing up in a remote village in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province, Tiago Salimo experienced the lack of access to healthcare from a young age. These challenging conditions instilled in the young man the desire to help others by becoming a nurse. Tiago welcomes us at the International SOS’ clinic in Pemba, the main city of the Cabo Delgado province. He is part of a highly trained team of medical professionals that offers international standards of care to the clinic’s patients.
Cabo Delgado is a large province, almost the same size of Portugal, located in the north of Mozambique. It is known for having large oil and gas deposits, and precious metals and stones under its soil1. The discovery of Africa’s largest natural gas deposits off Mozambique’s northern coast in early 2010 led to a surge in economic activity in the region. Unfortunately, since 2017, the province has experienced militant insurgency which has displaced about 800,000 people and delayed those ongoing projects. Besides being a port city, Pemba also harbours the province’s only international airport and its only public hospital.
Perched on the shore of Pemba since 2014, the International SOS clinic was set up to better serve the healthcare needs of organisations operating along the coast of the province and offshore. Most of our clients are from the Oil and Gas, Mining, and Construction industries. We also work with the agencies of Intergovernmental Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations. The clinic site has been strategically chosen to ensure it is highly secured. “We’re located in a guarded and gated compound with fenced perimeters, away from the busy city centre. It is easily accessible for our clinic patients, and they feel safe here,” shares Tiago Salimo.
As we walk into the clinic, Tiago introduces us to Dr Nseya Mwilambwe who leads the clinic’s medical team. Dr Mwilambwe comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), where his father worked as a nurse for International SOS for over 10 years. After studying medicine in the DRC, he worked in South Africa as an emergency doctor (ACLS and ITLS trained) before moving to Mozambique with his family. On top of this medical expertise, he is fluent in English, Portuguese and French, which makes it easy for him to treat patients whether they are locals or international assignees.
Dr Mwilambwe is appreciated by patients, and since he lives close to the clinic, he is available 24/7 for any emergency. These patients are either our clients’ employees or their family members. “Most of our cases relate to primary health care, such as respiratory infections. We also sometimes get malaria cases. No matter the nature of the illness, our level of care is of the highest quality to meet our clients’ industry requirements,” says Dr Mwilambwe.
International SOS provides various services at the Pemba clinic, from primary and emergency care services to occupational health services. At our occupational health facility, we perform OEUK certified medical health checks to support our clients from the energy industry.
The International SOS clinic in Pemba is ideally positioned to coordinate emergency response in the province, and to liaise with the International SOS Assistance Centre for air evacuations. In the last decade, over 50 patients were medically evacuated abroad from Cabo Delgado by our teams.
Dr Mwilambwe explains that
We help organisations to develop, grow and protect human capital at work and in life, for now and the future. Our products and services help our clients achieve their own sustainability goals and meet their reporting requirements.In such cases, the Assistance Centre ensures the coordination between the air ambulance’s medical team, Dr Mwilambwe’s team and the medical team in the foreign hospital that will be receiving the patient. “While all of my patient interactions are memorable, the one that had the most impact on me was with a patient who was about to be evacuated on suspicion of a serious heart condition. The patient was very scared, thinking that he would die at any time. Our nurses and I spent a lot of time with him, taking care of him and trying to calm him down until his medical evacuation.”
The Healthcare Landscape in Cabo Delgado
In Mozambique, free healthcare services are provided via public hospitals and healthcare centres which are managed by the local healthcare authorities 2. In Cabo Delgado, while there is one public hospital in Pemba, there are numerous healthcare centres across the province’s districts. However, coverage is relatively limited, and services provided do not tend to necessarily meet the health and safety requirements of our clients’ industries.
It is important for organisations to have a reliable in-country partner with both regional and global expertise to take care of their healthcare needs, and to successfully manage medical emergencies and evacuations. The International SOS clinic in Pemba offers international standards of care and access to medical fitness checks.
International SOS continually improves its operations to deliver quality services to its clients. “Our continuous training and our internal clinical governance system ensure that we always provide the highest quality of medical care to our patients,” concludes Dr Mwilambwe. In fact, International SOS’ healthcare staff undergo regular training and skills assessment in emergency medicine. We also collaborate with public health authorities to provide emergency care training to Mozambican doctors and nurses.
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