“We have a very strong relationship with the countries, not only the African Portuguese Speaking Countries (PALOP), but also the CPLP, which includes Timor-Leste”, said Fernando de Almeida, regarding the traditional collaboration between this institute and the laboratories of the countries of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP).
Even before the pandemic was declared, INSA made itself available to help the laboratories of these countries and immediately received requests for cooperation from some states, such as Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde.
Collaboration in this pandemic phase has been registered with Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe and Angola.
Regarding São Tomé and Príncipe, Fernando de Almeida explained that this is a “more recent” collaboration.
"We have been giving support, not only in terms of technical and evaluation and help in the methodology they are implementing, but we have also done some tests to compare and to understand the moment of distress they had there", he added.
And he continued: “With Cape Verde the same thing. We are helping to set up the technique and we are collaborating permanently ”.
"Today, fortunately, new technologies allow us to make these videoconferences and it is much easier, as we are relatively unable to travel to these countries," added the official.
In Guinea-Bissau, INSA is supporting field technicians, with whom Portuguese specialists have been exchanging knowledge by videoconference.
In this country, “the methodology was assembled based on the equipment and the teaching” of INSA “for the training of human resources when it was from Ébola”.
“We were able to do the training. Fortunately, there was nothing in Guinea-Bissau about Ebola, but while we were there we trained and trained people and some equipment remained. Now, they have already managed to do this methodology ”, he said.
The collaboration also extends to Angola, a country with which INSA has collaborated at the level of tests and with whom it is "permanently in conversation".
With Timor-Leste, the institute's specialists have been exchanging scientific and technical information about the new tests, namely which ones should be used.
Collaboration with these countries is expected to increase soon, as INSA is in articulation with Camões - Cooperation and Language Institute to see that the type of collaboration that, like other institutions, provide to Angola, Mozambique, Timor-Leste East, Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Cape Verde.
Fernando de Almeida believes that these countries already have, in general, the capacity to respond to the pandemic.
"They may have some momentary difficulties, lacking a conductor here or there, but the idea that comes to me is that they have this capacity and everything is going as possible and desirable, given the circumstances of this pandemic," he said.
The number of covid-19 deaths in Africa has risen to 1467, with 33,273 cases of the disease reported in 52 countries, according to the latest statistics on the continent's pandemic.
Among African countries that have Portuguese as their official language, Equatorial Guinea leads in number of infections (258) and one death, followed by Cape Verde (113 and one death), Mozambique (76), Guinea-Bissau (74 and one death), Angola (27 infected and two dead) and São Tomé and Príncipe have eight confirmed cases.
