Africa-Press – Angola. The President of the Republic inaugurated this Thursday (21), in the city of Cabinda, the General Hospital of this city, with 200 beds, which offers a diverse range of medical services for local citizens, the country and residents abroad.
Before cutting the inaugural ribbon and visiting the main service areas of the new hospital, the Head of State, flanked by the First Lady of the Republic, Ana Dias Lourenço, watched the video that depicts, in detail, the entire construction process of the new social enterprise, by the Portuguese company “Mota Engil”, in a total area of 50 thousand square meters.
The ceremony was also witnessed by Ministers of State Francisco Furtado, Adão de Almeida and Carolina Cerqueira, as well as members of central and local governments, traditional and religious authorities.
The new hospital unit, located in the village of Chibodo II, on the outskirts of the city of Cabinda, is the first third level, outside Luanda, compared to the Hospital Complex for Cardio-Pulmonary Diseases D. Alexandre do Nascimento.
Speaking to the press, at the end of the inauguration and the three-hour visit to the hospital, the President said he had the impression that “public money is being well spent”.
João Lourenço considered the construction of the new hospital infrastructure as a gain for the population of the portion of the territory physically discontinued from the rest of the territory, stressing that the situation put the populations and the rest of the country with some difficulties.
He indicated that, faced with such difficulties, the citizens of the province of Cabinda sought medical services in other places such as Luanda, even in neighboring countries. “This unit comes to solve this problem and I hope that health professionals and users of this hospital give the best possible treatment”, he exhorted.
During her welcome speech, the Minister of Health, Sílvia Lutucuta, said that the new hospital, in terms of modernization and quality of service provision, will provide a “best response” to the needs of medical care for citizens.
“This is a hospital infrastructure, which, due to its characteristics and valences, is yet another example in the process of strengthening the National Health Service”, said the minister, adding that the new unit will contribute to prevention, treatment, scientific research. of tropical diseases, training of cadres, and reduction of inequalities in citizens’ access to humanized health care.
Hemodialysis Services
Sílvia Lutucuta indicated that the General Hospital of Cabinda is prepared to provide services in 22 specialties, with emphasis on neonatology, emergencies, traumatology, pathological anatomy, hematology, endoscopy and laboratories with high-level equipment for diagnosis of various pathologies.
The Minister of Health also said that the new hospital also has hemodialysis services (20 beds), which will make many citizens residing in the northernmost region of the country stop resorting to this type of assistance in other parts of the country and abroad. .
He underlined that “enormous gains” will be obtained, with the reversal of the number of patients with evacuation needs to the outside.
MRI, CAT, mammography, electroencephalogram, electromyography, otorhinolaryngology and laryngology exams will also be performed at the General Hospital of Cabinda, which has 771 professionals out of the 1,250 expected. Among the professionals, 95 are doctors and 502 nurses, in addition to 98 diagnostic and therapeutic technicians, 60 hospital support and 16 general staff.
The official said that it was “essential” to build a hospital infrastructure of this kind in Cabinda, with differentiated services, since the province only has one provincial hospital, whose response capacity needed to be strengthened.
Sílvia Lutucuta promised to implement “new models” of management in the different hospitals in the country, especially to avoid degradation and facilitate the maintenance and conservation of infrastructure.
“We are also going to mobilize other sources of funding, other than just the OGE, with secure partnerships, with a view to creating conditions, allowing citizens, regardless of their social background, to benefit from high-complexity reference medical care”, he said.
The Ministry of Health, he indicated, is also committed to the training of staff and scientific investigation of tropical diseases that are frequent in the country. In effect, he announced the creation of synergies with similar institutions in the public and private sectors, which provide quality and humane health services, with a view to sharing knowledge and building a health system capable of solving the needs of citizens.
Sílvia Lutucuta called for the “appropriate use” of available resources, stressing that the measure “constitutes an ethical imperative”, both for users and for health professionals at the new hospital unit inaugurated yesterday.
Governor Speaks Of “Giant Step”
For the governor of Cabinda, Marcos Nhunga, with the inauguration of the new hospital, a “giant step” was taken in improving medical care for citizens in the northernmost region of the country and beyond.
“Cabinda has never won a unit of this size”, said the governor, adding that, with the new hospital, the citizens of Cabinda will save money and stop making “risky trips” abroad, in search of treatment for various diseases that affect them. bother. Marcos Nhunga said that “the sad scenario of seeing families traveling abroad in search of solutions for their health” has also ended.
Maritime Terminal Opens Today
In fulfillment of the work program for the province of Cabinda, the Head of State inaugurated, today, the Maritime Passenger Terminal of Cabinda, which will allow the maritime connection between this city and those of Soyo and Luanda, through catamaran-type vessels. The President of the Republic should also visit, today, the Lifua oil platform project, in the Malongo oil field.
At the end of yesterday’s workday, João Lourenço granted audiences to representatives of civil society, especially ecclesiastical leaders and traditional authorities.
Tomorrow, in the guise of MPLA president, he presides over a mass political act, at Tafe Stadium.
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