Joint Statement by the Ministry of Health of Cape Verde and the Ministry of Health of Portugal

The Ministry of Health of the Portuguese Republic and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Cape Verde, reaffirming their existing historical, institutional and cooperative ties in the field of health, recognise the strategic importance of continuously deepening bilateral cooperation for the promotion of the health and-being of their populations, as well as for strengthening the capacity, resilience and sustainability of their respective health systems.

This visit forms part of the Health Cooperation Programme and the Memoranda of Understanding signed between the Republic of Cape Verde and the Portuguese Republic at the 7th Bilateral Summit held in Lisbon, in January 2025, which laid the foundations for the development of joint areas of work.

In this context, they identified the following as priority areas for collaboration, amongst others to be defined in future by mutual agreement:

1. Education and training of healthcare personnel, with a particular focus on the pharmaceutical sector, including Health Technology Assessment, as well as other strategic clinical areas, namely oncology, orthopaedic traumatology, cardiology and ophthalmology, through training arrangements to be agreed between the Parties, including undergraduate and postgraduate training, work placements, technical missions, e-learning and institutional exchanges.

2. Epidemiological surveillance and public health, by promoting cooperation in the field of prevention, early detection, monitoring and response to public health events,   including genomic surveillance, the implementation of comprehensive surveillance systems for communicable diseases and chronic non-communicable diseases, monitoring of antimicrobial resistance, capacity-building in biosafety and sample transport, as well as the development of a pilot project for neonatal screening.

3. Medical emergencies and crisis response, including the strengthening of pre-hospital and in-hospital emergency medical services, disaster medicine, the development and training of Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs), as well as support for operational coordination and communications in emergency situations.

4. Medical evacuations, by developing a more integrated and clinically-oriented model, utilising telehealth during the pre-evacuation phase and in preparing for patients’ return to their country of origin, thereby promoting greater efficiency, the rational use of resources, and improved clinical, economic and social outcomes.

5. Support for medical missions, contributing to the provision of specialist healthcare, the sharing of best practice, the transfer of knowledge and the training of healthcare professionals.

Bilateral cooperation on these matters will be coordinated by the Health Sub-Committee of the Bilateral Standing Committee, which will ensure technical support, the drawing up of action plans, the monitoring of results and the inter-institutional coordination necessary for the implementation of the agreed initiatives. To this end, both Ministries agree to hold an inaugural meeting of the Health Sub-Committee by the end of March this year.

The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Cape Verde and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Portugal thus reaffirm their commitment to deepening structured, results-oriented and evidence-based technical cooperation, involving public institutions, the private and social sectors, and other relevant bodies in both countries, with a view to improving health outcomes, reducing vulnerabilities and strengthening the resilience of their respective health systems.

Praia, 30 January 2026

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