Luanda – At least 35 Angolan doctors are being trained in general and family medicine at the level of the municipalities, the secretary of State for hospital affairs, Leonardo Inocêncio, said Thursday in Luanda.
Leonardo Inocêncio, who was speaking at the opening of the first International Forum on General and Family Medicine to mark the World Family Doctor Day, said the training was part of the programme for upgrading specialists in priority areas for the country.
The Health official added that at least 2,620 physicians are still being trained in Paediatrics, Genaecology, Obstetrics, Orthopaedics, General Surgery, Internal and Intensive Medicine, Public Health, Anaesthesia and Resuscitation, to ensure a differentiated assistance for the population.
The training programme is being run by the National Council for Postgraduate Specialization in Health Sciences involving other sectors and professionals with main focus on the Human Resources Needs Plan.
Inocencio added that the country currently has 215 specialists in general and family medicine, being 28 Angolans and 187 expatriates.
For the family doctor, Cuban Yiliam Jimenez, Angola is taking an important step in the training of family doctors, since there is already greater awareness about the importance of the professional who has the mission of taking preventive medicine to the communities.
The doctor highlighted Angola's commitment to training family doctors, a bet the Ministry of Health implemented in 2021 based on the emergency training programme with help of Cuban professors.
Janeth Adão, an Angolan specialist in general family medicine, expressed satisfaction for being one of the nationals in this specialty, that is just now gaining ground in the country, stressing that the Executive's focus on the specialization of physicians and the presence of these professionals in the communities is visible.
"The increase of health specialists contributes to the improvement of the population's health care, since most of the professionals are in primary health care," she said.
The participant from Mozambique, Yolanda Marcelino Sabino, on her turn, considered it pertinent to hold such international forum for the exchange of experiences and knowledge of policies implemented by countries in the area under analysis.
The first International Forum of General and Family Medicine took place under the theme "The challenges of the family doctor in primary health care" and had the participation of Brazilian, Cuban, Mozambican and Portuguese physicians.
