Luanda - One hundred and eighty-nine health units have been built in the last seven years in the country's 18 provinces, the Secretary of State for the hospital area, Leonardo Inocêncio, said on Wednesday in Luanda.
Speaking during the 22nd thematic session under the theme 'Public health infrastructures in Angola', Leonardo Inocêncio explained that of these hospitals, 54 were built under the Public Investment Program (PIP) and 135 under the Integrated Plan for Intervention in Municipalities (PIIM), totaling 3,344 health units in the country.
According to the official, one of the priorities of the sector is the strengthening of primary care, which is why it is investing in the recovery of the physical network linked to the National Health System.
'Investments were made not only in the construction of new hospitals, but also in the expansion and completion of health units, allowing the increase of 4,623 new beds, currently making a total of 42,431 beds across the country,' he said.
Meanwhile, he made it known that, within the framework of a survey carried out by MINSA and the provincial governments, there is a need to build, over this five-year period, 1,856 health units, to face the population/territory by province.
Humanization of services
On the occasion, the Secretary of State considered the Ethics and Humanization of Health Services as a fundamental element to promote the health and well-being of all Angolans, responding to their physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs, as well as respect, empathy, effective communication, welcoming and dignity in care.
In this sense, he underlined that in 2018, with the approval of the organic statute of the Ministry of Health (Presidential Decree No. 21/18 of 30 January), the Office of Ethics and Humanization was created, in charge of promoting and implementing the humanization program of assistance and health care.
Regarding the training and qualification of the workforce, he informed that an ambitious plan for specialized training of 38,000 professionals in all careers is being implemented, financed with a loan of US$200 million from the World Bank.
This project, he said, is aligned with the process of hiring staff to increase the problem-solving capacity at the three levels of health care, with a focus on primary health care, aiming in the medium term at the creation of family health teams to ensure the provision of holistic care, throughout the life cycle of each person, and accelerate the achievement of Universal Health Coverage by 2030
The National Health Service has 101,280 employees, including doctors, nurses, diagnostic and therapeutic technicians, hospital support, social work, among others. EVC/MCN/DOJ
