Madar (Nouakchott) - Health Minister Naha Hamdi Mint Meknass on Thursday, October 22, 2026, chaired a meeting with the head doctors selected to run the new health centres built under the health component of the Nouakchott emergency development programme, urging them to complete technical and organisational preparations so the centres can open "in the next few days", the Mauritanian News Agency (AMI) reported.
The minister said the centres must operate around the clock and set an example in organisation, cleanliness, discipline and duty rosters, while improving the reception of patients and waiting areas. Their main aim is to bring health care closer to citizens and relieve pressure on hospitals, she said.
She described the new centres as a "qualitative experiment" in organising health services, both in how their head doctors were selected and in the move towards specialised consultations, and called for clear protocols and working procedures.
President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani met the government and Nouakchott's governors on Tuesday to assess preparations to open 28 health centres in the capital. The ministry did not give an exact opening date.
