On September 6, a delegation from the Medical School of Universidade Lueji AâNkonde, from Malanje, Angola (ULAN), visited BIREME in order to identify joint actions to strengthen the Schoolâs scientific and technical information management, as well as those of the North Luanda province and Angola.
AndrĂ© Pedro Neto, Dean of ULAN; Bernardino Rafael Moya DĂaz, Director of the Centro MĂ©dico de Informação ToxicolĂłgica; and Helena F. Biango, Head of the Department of Administrations of the Centro MĂ©dico de Informação ToxicolĂłgica; were part of the delegation, and were received by the Director of BIREME, Dr. Diego GonzĂĄlez, and by the managers of the technical and administrative sectors of the Center, who presented the projects, products and services of the Center related to scientific health information.
Pedro Neto, founding president of the Centro de Atendimento ToxicolĂłgico (CETOX) in the countryâs capital, expressed interest in strengthening scientific research at ULAN, as well as in other medical schools of Angola, as a means of improving medical studentsâ training and consequently the quality of health professionals, in order to improve the health conditions of the population.
During the meeting, a historical background of BIREMEâs work in Portuguese speaking countries was presented. The work was part of a project led by the World Health Organization (WHO) from 2007 to 2013 (ePORTUGUĂSe Network[1]). BIREME participated actively in this project through the VHL Network[2]. The reactivation of VHL Angola was considered, with the support of research and education institutions, libraries and documentation centers in the country, much like the Center has been doing recently with VHL Mozambique.
The Global Index Medicus (GIM) was also presented; its technological platform is under BIREMEâs responsibility and coordinated by the WHO through its Global Libraries, with the objective of broadening the access, visibility, use and impact of local and regional health information published in low and medium income countries, as was noted by Renato Murasaki, Methodology and Information Technology Manager.
In addition to working for the reactivation of the VHL in the country, researchers, students and health professionals benefited from training on health information localization and topics of scientific communication, through online and classroom courses.
Managers of the technical and administrative areas, as well as BIREMEâs coordination of scientific communication briefly presented their lines of work and in which way they could support ULAN in strengthening its capacities on health information and scientific communication, as well as on potential sources of financing for a joint project with the Center.
Dr. Pedro Neto confirmed the possibility of applying for financing in order to initiate a technical cooperation project with BIREME and coordinate the lines of action with the WHO Regional Office, AFRO.
According to Moya DĂaz, âinformation is power, and it is necessary to provide students and health professionals of Angola with information for decision making in healthâ. Dr. Pedro Neto reaffirmed the importance of the partnership with BIREME in order to work on the information component within the institution and in the rest of the country.
Dr. Diego GonzĂĄlez, Director of BIREME, said that working with Portuguese speaking countries is one of the Centerâs priorities in the joint effort with the Organizationâs Headquarters and the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Centers in Brazil. He also reaffirmed that the countries can count on BIREME to support them and responded affirmatively to the invitation to organize a mission in the country with the objective of building a plan of action to raise awareness and strengthen decision making based on evidence.
[1] See the context of the ePORTUGUĂSe project on VHL Mozambique: BIREME organizes a training workshop to reactivate VHL Mozambique in Maputo. BIREME Bulletin nÂș 7. Available at: http://boletin.bireme.org/en/2017/04/28/vhl-mozambique-bireme-organizes-a-training-workshop-to-reactivate-vhl-mozambique-in-maputo/
[2] Good Practices in South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Sustainable Development – Volume 2. Available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pMjBpMwMDPPBD_EKtnp0zL9TxsQ3tmGT/. pg. 81