CISA – the Health Research Centre of Angola, in conjunction with CISM – the Manhiça Health Research Centre, Mozambique, are staging a meeting between their respective researchers and specialists in order to discuss and exchange experiences about research projects in the following fields of healthcare: respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, malaria and neglected tropical diseases, among others.

“The Challenges of Health Research” is the theme of a conference taking place on 30th September, at 9am, in the Portuguese Cultural Centre in Luanda and counts on the participation of keynote speaker Sanjeev Krishna, Professor at the “Institute of Infection and Immunity” of St George´s, the University of London, who is to present the latest advances in infection diagnosis technologies; Rosário Sambo, Rector of the Agostinho Neto University, will tackle the scientific research underway in Angola and John Reeder, director of the World Health Organisation TdR program (especially targeting research and training in tropical diseases), provides an overview of the four decade history of this program. This ceremony will be opened by the Ambassador of Portugal to Angola, João da Camara, the Trustee of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Isabel Mota, the President of Camões, Ana Paula Laborinho and the Minister of Health of Angola, José Van Dúnem.

The seminar itself takes place between 28th and 29th September in the internship centre of the Faculty of Medicine of the Agostinho Neto University, Caxito, in Bengo province and counts upon the presence of international specialists: Pedro Gil, of the Karolinska Institute of Sweden and Henrique de Barros, of the Institute of Public Health, the University of Oporto. This Seminar falls within the framework of the dynamic CISA commitment towards fostering healthcare training and research in Angola and to this end draws upon financing from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the LaCaixa Foundation and support from the Institute of Global Health of Barcelona.

CISA results from a partnership between the Ministry of Health of Angola, the Provincial Government of Bengo, Camões – the Institute of Cooperation and Language and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and is endowed with the objective of striving to boost health research and contribute towards better knowledge on the diseases and healthcare problems afflicting Angola, such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV-AIDS, the 'neglected diseases' such as schistosomiasis, filariasis and the helminthiases along with non-transmissible diseases, including the cardiovascular, as well as operating as a catalyst for biomedical research involving Angolan and other international researchers, in particular Portuguese.