Maputo, 2 Mar (AIM) – Mozambican Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane on Wednesday challenged the National Health Institute (INS) to invest continually in strengthening the areas of competence of the institution, in order to respond to current and future threats to public health.
Maleiane was speaking after swearing into office Eduardo Samo Gudo as the new General Director of the INS. He replaces Ilesh Jani, who has been promoted to the post of Deputy Minister of Health. Samo Gudo was previously Deputy Director of the INS, a post now occupied by Sofia Viegas.
Under the leadership of Jani and Samo Gudo, the INS played a decisive role in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, and in the highly successful vaccination campaign in which almost 100 per cent of all adults were vaccinated against Covid-19.
Maleiane said he hoped that Samo Gudo and Viegas will continue to ensure that the INS plays a key role in responding to threats to public health.
He wanted them to develop a health research system that covers the entire country.
“You should undertake actions that contribute to strengthening the National Health System so that the country is more resilient to public health threats, and so that we continue more resolutely on the path towards the Sustainable Development Goals”, urged the Prime Minister.
Samo Gudo told reporters “the recommendations were clear. The Prime Minister wants a more encouraging, more active, more creative INS – particularly with regard to generating scientific theory, and stressing the role of the INS in epidemiological surveillance, which is important not only to detect diseases, but also to monitor their impact”.
“Furthermore, the INS should be more creative and innovative in creating platforms and tools that make it possible to forecast outbreaks and epidemics with greater efficiency”, he added.
Samo Gudo said it was thanks to the vaccination against Covid-19 that it had been possible to control the pandemic in Mozambique.
“Vaccination is a strong tool”, he added. “Thanks to vaccination, the levels of transmission of Covid-19 are at their lowest since the start of the pandemic”.
(AIM)
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