Luanda — The minister of Health, Sílvia Lutucuta, on Monday in Luanda Province pointed out that the country is in need of 1,800 new units nationwide, of which 600 in Luanda, mainly in the primary network, to strengthen the National Health System.
The minister, who was speaking at the hearing of the Parliament's 6th Special Working Committee, on the current state of health in the country, said that the idea is part of the strategy to improve health facilities across the country.
During the hearing session, the MPs were also informed on subsidising medicines for patients with chronic non-communicable diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes, so that they have access to drugs at lower prices.
She said that the Ministry of Health officially established the tax exemption for these medicines and right now it is working with the Ministry of Finance so that it can be removed from the free price regime to the controlled price regime.
Sílvia Lutucuta made the parliamentarians aware of the implementation of public policies related to the health sector, actions to combat major endemic diseases, the challenges for the prevention of neglected diseases, the process of implementing the principle of humanisation of health services, compliance with ethics and deontology in the provision of care, among others.
For their part, MPs recommended rigorous oversight of the National Health System with the aim of making it more resilient, viable, efficient and accessible to all.
The Coordinator of the Parliament's 6th Working Committee, Arlete Borges, pointed to the significant increase of people as the main issue regarding the high number of patients in hospitals.
The MP reiterated that the province of Luanda needs more than 600 hospital units in order to alleviate the existing pressure, given the existing deficit of primary care.
She also admitted that there is a shortfall in tertiary care, as there are only three large hospitals, and the best would be at least 9 large hospitals to extend health care.
Under the Public Investment Programme (PIP) and the Integrated Intervention Programme for Municipalities (PIMM), over the last five years, the Angolan Government built 85 modern health units, of which 54 from the PIP and 31 from the PIIM, having also been equipped and equipped with new technologies.
These infrastructures increased the supply of beds in the National Health Service by 8,492, reinforcing the mechanisms of reference and counter-reference, guaranteeing the monitoring of users from the primary level of care to the tertiary level.
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To accompany this investment and ensure its efficiency, 33.093 new professionals were hired in the public health services in the special career and in the general regime, with an increase of 35% of the total workforce.
The number of staff in the health sector has increased from 65,294 professionals to around 100,000 in the last two years, making the number of doctors reach 7,715.
Currently, the National Health System and the Health Network comprise 2,644 health units, of which 15 are national hospitals, 25 provincial hospitals, 45 general hospitals, 170 municipal hospitals, 442 health centres, 67 maternal and child centres, 1,880 health posts and 37 other infrastructures.
VM/MRA/jmc
