Mbanza Kongo — Forty-one thousand and 93 new professionals were admitted and promoted in the Health sector, from 2018 to 2022, throughout the national territory, the Secretary of State for Health for the Hospital area, Leonardo Europa Inocêncio announced on Sunday, in Mbanza Kongo, province of Zaire.
When speaking at the central event of International Nurses' Day, May 12th, on behalf of the Minister of Health, Sílvia Lutucuta, the secretary considered these to be the largest public entry and promotion competitions ever carried out by the supervisory ministry in Angola, representing an increase in 40.5% of the total workforce in the health service.
He explained that of this number of health technicians, 24 thousand and 652 are nurses, which made it possible to reinforce the improvement in the provision of quality and humanized health care.
He announced that the Health sector has already started the process of specializing 38 thousand health professionals, to guarantee high quality care, of which 1,549 nurses are attending post-secondary specialties in anesthesia and resuscitation, intensive care, nephrology, orthoprosthetics, childcare and pediatrics.
According to the government official, all this investment by the Executive in the Health sector has allowed the National Health Service to currently have 49 thousand 282 nurses across the country, reaching a ratio of 14.2/10 thousand inhabitants.
In the field of health infrastructure, the Secretary of State for Health for the Hospital area said that 168 new hospitals were built and equipped, between 2017 and 2023, at the three levels of care (primary, secondary and tertiary), of which 157 of the primary level.
According to the official, obstetric emergency care was also improved with the rehabilitation and equipping of municipal hospitals in the country's 164 districts.
Regarding the anniversary that is being celebrated today, Leonardo Europa Inocêncio, said that the celebration of International Nurses' Day aims to celebrate and honor those who play a fundamental role in the resilience of the health system in the world and, in particular, in Angola.
"We recognize that nurses are the hearts and hands of the healthcare system, they comfort, care and heal, often in moments of great vulnerability and distress. Nurses work whether in the comfort of a hospital or on the front lines of an emergency and are always ready to offer compassionate care", expressed the secretary.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
By the way, he said that nurses must be increasingly aware of their dynamic and impactful role in today's society, in order to be positive agents of change in any situation, transforming pain into relief, suffering into consolation, illness into cure or control, inequities in justice, losses in possibilities, absence in fraternal presence and doubt in truth.
On the occasion, messages were read from the National Nursing Association of Angola (ANEA) and the National Union of Nurses of Angola (SINDEA), which, unanimously, highlighted the actions that the Executive has carried out in favor of the health sector , with emphasis on the entry of more technicians and the construction of new health units.
Doing the honors from home, the deputy governor of Zaire for the political, social and economic sector, Afonso Nsolameso, expressed gratitude for the fact that the city of Mbanza Kongo had been chosen to host the central event of International Nurses' Day.
It should be noted that, in addition to the central event of International Nurses' Day, the city of Mbanza Kongo also hosted, on the 10th and 11th of this month, the XV technical-scientific nursing days that took place under the motto "Our nurses, our future, the economic power of care".
They were attended by dozens of delegates from the provinces of Zaire, Luanda, Moxico, Benguela and Cuanza Norte. DMN/JL/DOJ
