Making the case for a national mental health hospital
Feasibility plan, financial strategy and economic model for Mauritania's first national central mental health hospital.
- Context
- Mauritania, West Africa
- Sector
- Mental health infrastructure
- Dr. Allama's role
- Health economics and financing consultant (independent practice)
- Basis
- Founder's professional experience
Context
Mental health services have been underfunded almost everywhere, and Mauritania had no national central mental health hospital. A project of this kind has to persuade several audiences at once before it can move forward.
The challenge
The same set of numbers had to answer three different questions. The ministry needed to know whether the service could be sustained year after year, not only built. Prospective investors needed a clear cost structure, revenue logic and risk picture. Clinicians needed confidence that the plan reflected how mental health care is actually delivered.
Demand is especially hard to estimate in mental health, because stigma keeps many people away from services. A model based only on current attendance would understate real need.
What Dr. Allama delivered
- A feasibility plan for the hospital
- A financial strategy covering investment and running costs
- An economic model designed to make trade-offs visible to decision-makers
Because specialised staff are scarce, the workforce plan was treated as part of the financial plan rather than an annex to it.
What it shows
A good health economic model is a negotiation tool. Its job is not to produce one perfect number, but to help people who want different things agree on the trade-offs.