Between May 13th and 17th, representatives from the Sergio Arouca National School of Public Health (ENSP/ Fiocruz), the Joaquim Venâncio Polytechnic School of Health (EPSJV/ Fiocruz), the Center for International Relations in Health (CRIS/ Fiocruz), and the Vice Presidency of Education, Information and Communication (VPEIC), with the support and involvement of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), carried out a mission to Africa. The Fiocruz delegation went to Angola and Mozambique for bilateral meetings with the two countries and for the work meeting of the Network of Public Health Schools of Portuguese Language Countries (RENSP-CPLP).
Representatives from Fiocruz, with the support and involvement of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), carried out a mission to Africa (photo: disclosure)
"The mission played a very important role in enabling us to exercise one of the Foundation's most important characteristics, which is integrated work. The experience in African countries has strengthened our articulated action around the topic of public and collective health," said the ENSP director, Marco Menezes. The expectation is that, as the actions carried out during the mission unfold, the debate will be expanded by extending the agenda to other Fiocruz units.
Creation of public health schools
The first stage of the mission was bilateral meetings, which began in Angola. The main goal was to discuss the creation of Public Health schools there and in Mozambique. With this in mind, one of the moments of the visit to Luanda, the Angolan capital, was dedicated to getting to know the work of the Health Specialization Institute, where a department with the function of a public health school is to be set up. ENSP is supporting the formulation and planning of this initiative with a work agenda that includes virtual and face-to-face meetings until July. In addition to director Marco Menezes, the deputy director of the School of Government in Health (VDEGS/ENSP), Eduardo Melo, the coordinator of the VDEGS International Cooperation Office, André Périssé, and the VDEGS International Cooperation advisor, Livia Avelhan, also took part in the meeting in Luanda on behalf of ENSP. In turn, the director Anamaria Corbo and the International Cooperation coordinator Carlos Batistella participated on behalf of EPSJV. The meeting also included the director of the Fiocruz Office in Mozambique and Cris/Fiocruz representative, Augusto Paulo, as well as the Angolan Secretary of State for Public Health, Carlos Alberto Pinto de Sousa.
Next, the delegation departed for Mozambique, where they were received by the Brazilian Ambassador to the country, Ademar Seabra da Cruz. There, the mission continued with the bilateral meetings on measures aimed at public health training, which were also attended by the general coordinator of education at VPEIC/Fiocruz, Eduarda Cesse. This stage included a visit to an important Mozambican partner, the National Health Institute (INS). "Set up with advice from Fiocruz and with which various initiatives have been developed, such as the Educational Program in Health Systems - SIS-Saude, which trains masters and doctors from Mozambique, the INS is in the process of establishing a Public Health School, with strong support from the country's Ministry of Health. For this, they asked Fiocruz's collaboration," said Eduardo Melo. The Mozambican school has already been publicly announced by the country's Health Minister, Armindo Daniel Tiago.
As part of the mission to Africa, teams from Angola and Mozambique will soon visit Fiocruz to see the ENSP and EPSJV schools and take part in a planning workshop. The idea is to subsidize the construction of the new public health schools. A work agenda has been set, with further bilateral meetings planned to draw up a preliminary proposal for the structure of the new school by July. The ENSP director points out that, even before the African partners arrive at the institution, there is a lot to be done, such as the exchange of documents and a series of virtual meetings. "The senior management of the institutions and the Ministry of Health are committed to setting up the schools," said Marco Menezes.
On Wednesday (5/15), one of the activities of the mission to the African continent was the INS Inaugural Lecture, given by the ENSP director, Marco Menezes. The theme of the presentation was "The Role of the National Schools of Public Health in Strengthening Health Systems". The ceremony also featured a speech by Eduarda Cesse, general coordinator of Education at VPEIC/Fiocruz.
On the 16th and 17th, still in the Mozambican capital, Maputo, the RENSP-CPLP meeting was held. At the opening of the event, Eduarda Cesse represented Fiocruz while Marco Menezes represented ENSP and the Executive Network Secretariat, which the School shares with the NOVA University Lisbon (UNL). The ceremony also featured speeches by the INS director, Eduardo Samo Gudo Júnior, the Brazilian ambassador to Mozambique, Ademar Seabra da Cruz Junior, and the Mozambican Minister of Health, Armindo Tiago.
On the first day of the meeting, the RENSP-CPLP member countries gave presentations on their schools, institutions and training centers (Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and East Timor). In addition to discussions on health systems and the situation of institutions – as many are in the process of establishing Public Health Schools – the meeting was marked as RENSP's first since its creation in 2019 and, after the pandemic, in a sort of resumption.
Finally, the participants worked on drawing up the 2024-2025 RENSP Work Plan. Main product of the meeting, the plan was organized into 3 axes: institutional and training capacities of schools, support for strengthening health systems and communication, knowledge management and scientific dissemination. Strategic actions were formulated for each of these axes, with advisory to structuring public health schools, organizing events, conducting joint research, building a communication plan and supporting the training of school faculty standing out.
"It is a very strong instrument to consolidate the work of the member countries' institutions in strengthening each one's health systems. The plan also allows for countries to coordinate around the network, which is important for the region, but especially for CPLP's Strategic Health Cooperation Plan (PECS-CPLP)," said Marco Menezes. "The challenges will be great, given the complexity of the countries, institutional heterogeneity and health systems. It will undoubtedly be an opportunity for us to exercise the perspective of structuring cooperation, with articulated bilateral and network actions," commented Eduardo Melo.
When highlighting the support from ABC, represented in the mission by Leila Magarinos Tavares from the INS, Mozambique, in addition to Fiocruz itself, director Marco Menezes stated that "this mission, among other ongoing initiatives, strengthens the field of public health and collective health in the process of internationalizing the actions of the Foundation." Deputy director Eduardo Melo added that "the meeting with the Portuguese language African countries mobilized us in many ways, with several lessons learned and reflections, including about colonialism, inequalities and the importance of Brazil's relationship with Africa." Currently, activities in Africa have been driven by President Lula, who announced a Fiocruz office in Ethiopia during the 37th African Union (AU) Summit in February. The president said that the initiative to expand health cooperation with the continent would also include officials from other government bodies, such as the Brazilian Cooperation Agency and Embrapa. The Foundation's president, Mario Moreira, accompanied the Brazilian delegation on that occasion, representing Minister Nísia Trindade during the meeting of health ministers from African countries. "Our health minister has been encouraging and asking for more direct collaboration with African countries," Marco recalled.
