Background

The Cocody University Hospital is one of the tertiary care facilities covering the Greater Abidjan area which is the capital of Côte d'Ivoire. It has been providing advanced medical services to the country since 1996 when the outpatient ward was constructed and the main building was renovated with Japan's grant aid. However, due to the population growth in the Greater Abidjan area and the shortage of primary and secondary medical facilities in the target area, patients are referred directly to the top referral hospital. Therefore, the referral system is not working properly. This situation is hindering the treatment of pregnant women and newborns who originally require advanced treatment in Cocody University Hospital.
In order to improve this situation, a request for grant aid from Japan was made with the aim to improve the maternal and child health referral system in the Greater Abidjan area by developing the maternal and child health ward of Cocody University Hospital as a tertiary care facility.

Project description

In result of consultation with member of Cocody University Hospital, we decided to construct a maternal and child health care building within the existing hospital site to provide top level medical services. Through a preliminary survey, we determined the required functions, number of rooms, and specification of equipment so that we planned a multi-story facility on a limited site. Similarly, the medical equipment was also planned with specifications that would provide the top-level maternal and child health care services.