Luanda — Angolan Health minister, Jose Van-Dúnem, said today in Luanda, the national independence, in addition to returning citizenship to Angolans, brought health for all, since before that only a small group of people was entitled to medical assistance.

Speaking to ANGOP, on the occasion of the celebrations of the 33 years of the National Independence, the minister said that despite the war that the country experienced for many years, Angolans could win the right to health, freedom, well-being and getting affirmed in the world.

He acknowledged that the war destroyed infrastructure and led people into seeking for safer places. It also destroyed the health system, characterised by a high concentration of professionals in cities and the precarious situation of the populations.

Presenting a brief history of the war that devastated the country, he said that the public services of the Ministry of Health (MINSA), Armed Forces and other institutions, joined effort and sought to give the Angolan people the opportunity to be treated with dignity.

The minister dismissed a possible link between the periods before and after independence, stressing that the present is of reorganization of the national systems, the way of thinking of the professionals and the high gain which is the extension of the concept of health.

According to Jose Van-Dúnem, the government has a fairly consistent programme of action based on the commitment to reduce maternal and infant mortality, which is part of the Millennium goals that will be analysed in 2015.

With peace, the government programme became clearer, allowing 68 of the country's most densely populated municipalities to be decentralized.

Priority, the minister said, should be given to municipalities, because a city is crucial in the life of the people, as it is easier to control a small number of people.

Admitting it is not possible to cover the whole country as yet, Jose Van-Dúnem said that all 68 municipalities already decentralized will benefit from trained professionals, as the country is still striving to have enough doctors.

With satisfaction, the minister said that each provincial capital has a hospital, centres and clinics, totalling 1,176 public health units, with the purpose of bringing the institutions closer to the people.

This, coupled with the increase in the number of doctors from Cuba, is increasing the degree of satisfaction of the people and the interest of increasingly seeking health care from public units.

The minister also recognized that malaria remains the leading cause of death in the country.