The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in Nairobi and the Global Health Center of the Tuscany Region have signed an agreement worth a total of 5.5 million euros to help develop a regional health network in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

The goal is to improve the quality of and access to health services for women and children.
The initiative plans to intervene in more than 30 health facilities covering a total population of about 6.2 million people in the three countries.

The agreement was signed by the Head of the AICS Nairobi office, Giovanni Grandi, and the

Director of the Global Health Center, Maria José Caldés Pinilla.
The AICS will fully fund the project, and the Global Health Center of Meyer University Hospital will play the role of technical and scientific coordinator, as well as monitoring and evaluating the expected results.

The initiative will be carried out in collaboration with the Ministries of Health of the three countries and aims to develop a regional network of selected health facilities in the three countries with the aim of sharing the use of best practices, knowledge and collaborations Infrastructure interventions and provision of equipment aimed at improving the functioning of health centers and the management of obstetric-neonatal emergencies, providing equipment, medical instruments and ambulances are also planned, as well as moments of exchange and technical assistance and training activities at the national and regional levels.

"The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted even more how global challenges cannot

be met with local responses, and how health is a fundamental asset for

human development," said Grandi. "Italian Cooperation wanted to respond to this need, implementing in the three countries a program aimed at the most vulnerable segments of the population, particularly women and children.