The initiative came about at the invitation of the Angolan Institute for Cancer Control and the Ministry of Health and will cover more than 200 health professionals, as noted in the IM3M statement, which has been carrying out volunteer actions in Portuguese-speaking African Countries (PALOP) since 2021.
The first took place in 2021, in Mozambique, followed by Cape Verde in 2023 and 2024, says the press release.
In addition to basic training in these areas, the group also aims to strengthen bridges between the academies of Coimbra, Porto, Cape Verde, Mozambique and Angola for the development of advanced training in palliative care and multicenter research.
To this end, in addition to the 30-hour course, meetings and discussions are planned in which some challenges will be discussed and future cooperation will be promoted to resolve them, it also reads.
The group is led by the professor of the Faculties of Medicine of the University of Coimbra (FMUC) and Porto (FMUP) and palliative care physician, Hugo Ribeiro, and also includes the FMUP professor and vascular surgeon, João Rocha Neves, the family doctor, Leonardo Napoleão, and the anesthesiologist, Paulo Roberto Ferreira, it is noted.
This initiative is scientifically coordinated by FMUC professor Marília Dourado, coordinator of the master's degree in continuing and palliative care and the postgraduate course in pain medicine at this faculty, and director of the center for studies and development of continuing and palliative care.