Luanda — The Angolan Health Ministry (Minsa) has as one of its main challenges the creation of mechanisms to control and give response to the increase in cases of chronic diseases in the country, with emphasis to high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer.

According to the deputy minister of Health, Evelise Fresta, who was making an analysis of the country's sanitary situation, in Angola it is becoming more frequent the appearance of diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, mental illnesses and cancer, to which the authorities are not yet prepared to give adequate medical response.

These diseases constitute a great concern to Minsa, not only because they are hard to cure but also the impact they have on the population, as well as the costs.

Evelise Fresta underlined that for this reason the Health Ministry is paying major attention to these ilnesses, by improving the access to medicine for the mentioned diseases.

"So, we are trying to provide the medicine for those diseases free of charge and work to set up in all hospitals consultations for high blood pressure and diabetes", she revealed.

In terms of the fight against cancer it is being prepared a dossier to assess the situation of this illnesses, coupled with the creation, in all the provinces, local centres of oncology services, as well as training of technicians, with the aim also of doing early diagnosis of the cancer.

The Health Ministry is also preparing to build a hospital for cancer treatment in Luanda, with local centres in the provinces.

Evelise Fresta informed that cancer is currently one of the main illnesses that are causing the authorities to evacuate patients abroad.

She disclosed that over the past six years Minsa has also been devoting special attention to diseases like tuberculosis, HIV/Aids, malnutrition, malaria, parasitic and infectious diseases and diarrhoea.

All this effort, she said, is being followed by training programmes and the extension of the sanitary network.