Luanda — The minister of Health, Sílvia Lutucuta, stressed on Saturday (01) in Luanda that the inauguration of the Julius Nyerere Burn Hospital represents only the beginning of an ongoing process of institutional, scientific, and healthcare development.

Quoted in a press release, the government official was speaking during a meeting with representatives from the Ministry of Health of Portugal, which served to reinforce bilateral cooperation for the highly specialized training of professionals at the new hospital unit.

"Today, a great hospital has been born. But, like any birth, it needs to grow, consolidate, and develop all its capabilities. To do this, we need to heavily invest in the training of our professionals and in international cooperation," she emphasized.

The minister highlighted that the major challenge now lies in establishing highly differentiated national teams capable of providing specialized care in Angola that previously depended on medical evacuations abroad.

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She recalled that severe burns remain among the leading causes of Angolan patients being transferred for treatment outside the country, a situation that the President Julius Nyerere Hospital will help reverse, thanks to its modern clinical facilities and the ongoing reinforcement of its professionals' technical skills.

During the meeting, the head of the health portfolio also presented the progress achieved by Angola in the field of international cooperation, highlighting partnerships established with institutions in Portugal, Brazil, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Italy in the areas of cardiac surgery, robotic surgery, telemedicine, specialized medical training, hospital development, and health innovation.

The minister also reminded the audience that the Human Resources in Health Training Project aims to train 38,000 health professionals by 2026, constituting one of the largest national human capital development programmes in the health sector.