Algeria government has set aside more than US$5 billion, which will be used in construction of ten new hospitals and rehabilitation of others that are in bad condition.
This is according to the Algerian minister for health, population and hospital reform Abdelmalek Boudiaf, who said that construction work had already started on the five hospitals, and the tenders for the other five will be announced before end of 2015.
Construction work will be undertaken by foreign companies because local companies lack the enough experience in implementing projects with international standards.
The companies that won the construction tender include United Kingdom International Hospital Group and a consortium between Rizzani de Eccher an Italian construction company and Ospedale San Raffaele hospital. Rizzani will construct a 700-bed Satawali municipal hospital in Algiers while United will build a 500-bed hospital in Tlemcen. They are expected to cooperate with the government in delivering the project by 2019.
The construction project will create job opportunities for professionals in the health sector such as nurses, doctors and healthcare assistants.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, Algeria’s total expenditure on health per capita is US$439 and 5.3% of its gross domestic product is spent on health.
