Twenty Years of the Manhiça Health Research Centre: A Shared History

This year is the 20^th anniversary of the Manhiça Health Research Centre (CISM), one of the Spanish Cooperation's most emblematic projects. To commemorate such a special occasion, ISGlobal and the Spanish Cooperation, organized an event on the 6^th of July in CaixaForum, in Madrid. It was titled "20 years of cooperation Spain – Mozambique: a development cooperation model based on knowledge exchange" and was organized with the support of "la Caixa" Foundation.

Gonzalo Robles, Secretary General for International Development Cooperation, gave the first of the inauguration speeches and affirmed that "Manhiça is a story of success, a result of the different Spanish administrations' commitment to international aid over time". Enric Banda, director of the Area of Science, Research and Environment of ''la Caixa'' Banking Foundation, highlighted that Mozambique is one of the Foundation's cooperation priorities, and reminded the public of the "la Caixa against malaria" project that supports the Mozambican malaria elimination efforts in the South of the country.

During the round table session, Pedro Alonso, director of the World Malaria Programme and founder of CISM, recalled the beginnings of the centre twenty years ago when Mozambique had just come out of a long civil war. At that time nothing suggested that it would be possible to create a research centre that would then become one of Africa´s leading centres. Nazira Abdula, Mozambique's Minister of Health and member of CISM's board of trustees, talked about the relevance of having a state-of-the-art health research centre and recalled how "despite the country's economic growth, Mozambique only has one doctor for every 20.000 inhabitants".

Eusebio Macete, director of CISM, described some of the centre's main achievemnets over the last two decades: the clinical development of the RTS,S vaccine, the introduction in the country of two vaccines against pneumonia and pneumococcus, or the development of new strategies to fight against malaria in pregnant women, which are now recommended by WHO. Leire Pajín, ISGlobal's Global Development Director, who visited CISM during her time in government, and Teresa Fernández de la Vega, president of the Foundation Women for Africa, present in Mozambique, also took part in the round table.

Antoni Plasència, general director of ISGlobal, and Carmen Vela, Secretary of State for Research, Development and Innovation, delivered some closing remarks at the end of the event, which brought together over 100 people. "The story we share today is not just a story of success. It is a legacy that leaves us with a great responsibility: to continue supporting a development cooperation model based on research and training that has not only benefited Mozambique and Spain, but the field of global health as a whole", said ISGlobal's general director.

More Information

Publication: 20 años del Centro de Investigación en Salud de Manhiça (in Spanish)