Italy-Congo Health Agreement Builds New Critical Care Capacity
A new intensive care unit has been inaugurated at Makelele Hospital, the largest healthcare facility serving southern Brazzaville, as part of a project linked to the Mattei Plan – Italy’s framework for supporting certain African countries.
Italian and Congolese officials present this initiative as part of a broader agreement between Rome and Brazzaville to support the health sector, valued at 236 million euros over five years, according to information provided during the visit.
High-Level Visit to Brazzaville Highlights Concrete Projects
The Italian delegation, led by Italian Health Minister Orazio Schillaci, visited Brazzaville on Friday, January 9, 2026. The visit took place in the presence of the Congolese Minister of International Cooperation, Denis Christel Sassou-Nguesso.
According to the briefing shared on-site in Brazzaville, the delegation’s first stop was Blanche Gomes Hospital, another site that has benefited from Italian support, before proceeding to Makelele Hospital.
Inside Makelele Hospital’s New Intensive Care Unit
At Makelele Hospital, the delegation spent time examining the new critical care and resuscitation facility. Hospital officials described it as a concrete response to long-standing needs in a densely populated part of the capital.
The hospital director stated that the Italian partnership enabled the unit to be equipped with essential intensive care components: beds, ventilators, and monitors – tools that, in practice, define whether an ICU can function beyond basic observation.
A Long-Delayed Project, Now Realized
For the hospital, the inauguration carried the weight of a long-awaited milestone. Makelele officials indicated that the intensive care unit had been anticipated for years, making the opening less of a ribbon-cutting and more the completion of a deferred promise.
“This is the culmination of a project that dragged on for years,” he said, adding that the project is now being implemented. He also thanked the Congolese government and Italian partners for enabling Makelele to have an intensive care unit.
Why This Matters for Patients in Southern Brazzaville
Until now, patients in southern Brazzaville requiring intensive care were typically referred to the University Hospital Center (CHU), located several kilometers away. In emergency medicine, this distance can translate into lost critical minutes.
By placing critical care capacity closer to where many patients live, the new unit is expected to reduce pressure on the CHU and shorten referral pathways, even though the hospital describes its ICU as being calibrated for its role as a referral facility.
Cooperation Under the Mattei Plan: A Focus on Health
The visit illustrates how the Mattei Plan is presented on the ground: not just as a diplomatic label, but as a series of visible investments in services. In this case, the focus is on strengthening hospitals’ preparedness for severe cases.
Officials presented the improvements at Makelele and Blanche Gomes as steps within the broader five-year, 236-million-euro health cooperation program, signaling an approach focused on equipment and capacity building at the facility level.
Local Expectations and Next Steps for Care
Healthcare workers in Brazzaville often measure reform by what changes inside the wards: whether equipment is available, whether patients can be stabilized quickly, and whether transfers become less routine. Makelele’s ICU is designed to alter these daily calculations.
The presence of authorities on-site also sends a message of coordination between partners and institutions. For hospital managers, the test will now be continuity – maintaining the unit’s operation at the expected level as demand will inevitably increase.