Project to strengthen regional health cooperation in the Comoros

Improving healthcare provision in the Comoros

On 22 July 2019, France signed a Framework Partnership Agreement with the Union of the Comoros in its desire to strengthen their ties and support the development of a country historically and geographically close to France in the Indian Ocean. One of the pillars of this renewed partnership is the France-Comoros Development Plan (FCDP – €150 million), whose financing is entrusted to AFD.

Health is one of the priority lines of action of the FCDP. Indeed, there is a long history of cooperation in the Indian Ocean basin between health professionals in the French territories (Mayotte – Reunion) and the Union of the Comoros. The project to strengthen regional health cooperation aims to further deepen these ties by working on a strategy shared by all the stakeholders, increase the visibility of the actions implemented and improve the coordination and networking.

Sustainably improving healthcare provision in the Comoros

The project’s objective is to sustainably improve healthcare provision in the Union of the Comoros by strengthening regional health cooperation, in particular via the operators in Mayotte and Reunion.

More specifically, it aims to:

• Develop and implement a sustainable and concerted health cooperation strategy

• Help strengthen targeted healthcare pathways to improve care for Comorian patients at regional level

• Develop a sustainable skills building system for health professionals.

A project based on two components

Component 1: Support for strengthening regional health cooperation

• Carry further the needs analysis in order to implement sustainable actions.

Component 2: Support for strengthening targeted healthcare pathways through regional health cooperation

• Strengthen the core competencies of Comorian health professionals in the target healthcare pathways

• Improve the care pathways within the targeted healthcare pathways and facilitate access to specialised expertise by developing and structuring hospital cooperation in the region

• Take action on the risk factors associated with health issues by bringing about lasting changes in practices: networking of operators, support for preventive measures, health education and promotion for issues related to the targeted healthcare pathways.  

Expected outcomes

Following the implementation phase, the population of the Union of the Comoros will benefit from improved access to high-quality healthcare (prevention, care pathway facilitated, etc.). The health professionals from the Comorian public sector will benefit from a skills building system combining in-service training (“buddy” system, training courses) and support for the regional training courses leading to qualifications. Finally, the Comorian health facilities will have an increased care capacity in the targeted healthcare pathways: access to specialised expertise, sharing of expertise and experience, specialised medical missions, supply of inputs, etc.