Luanda — A Health Research Centre (CISA) will open Saturday in northern Bengo province as a contribute to a better knowledge of illnesses and health problems that affect developing countries.

The centre was created under the memorandum of understanding signed in 2006 between Angola, Portugal and Caloute Gulbenkian Foundation.

It aims at learning about the most visible illnesses like malaria, tuberculosis, hiv/aids and those taking less attention from the scientific community and supporting networks.

Among the diseases considered by the scientific community as "neglected illness", stress goes to schistosomiasis, trypanossomiasis, viral hemorrhagic fevers, phylariasis and others.

According to the Health Ministry, CISA will work also as catalyst to biomedical research involving Angolan and foreign researchers, with stress to Portugal.

The project is based in Caxito city, 60 kilometres to the north of Luanda, Dande district urban centre, Bengo province, with a population estimated at 250,000 inhabitants.

Defined as a priority intervention area, has a population estimated at 68,000 inhabitants.

The project is sponsored by Angolan State, through the Ministry of Health (MINSA) and Bengo province government, the Portuguese State, represented by the Support Development Institute and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

Portugal's Health Ministry and the Agostinho Neto University Medicine Faculty are also partners in the project.