Luanda – The Secretary of State for Public Health Franco Mufinda expressed the Government willingness to support the expansion of the network of Milk Banks nationwide.
Mufinda said so to the press, at the end of the visit of the director of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC), Ruy Pereira, on Saturday in Luanda.
The Secretary of State said that given the reality witnessed with the implementation of the Milk Bank of the Lucrécia Paím Maternity Hospital (BLM) in Luanda, there is an urgent need to expand it to other reference health units in the country.
“The purpose is to give greater access to children who need milk,” he said.
As for the BLM’s budget, Franco Mufinda said that as the network takes shape, there is a need to open a discussion in order to find mechanisms for the sustainability of the project.
In turn, the director of the Brazilian Cooperation Agency, Ruy Pereira, reaffirmed the commitment to partnership with the Angolan State, also considering the work carried out by the Milk Bank of the Lucrécia Paím Maternity Hospital to be positive.
He confirmed for the year 2023 the start of the project to expand the network of Human Milk Banks nationwide, as well as seeking to encourage Brazilian companies operating in Angola to support the BLM.
The official also did not rule out the need to organise, for next year, a seminar to promote an approach and make the Angolan society aware of the importance of the Milk Bank.
“Angola has all the conditions to take on this important task of expanding the Milk Bank network”, he said.
The Human Milk Bank at the Lucrécia Paim Maternity Hospital was reopened in November 2019, but began operating in 2011.
The unit is the result of a partnership between the Ministries of Health of Angola and Brazil, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation and the Brazilian Cooperation Agency.
Source: Angola Press News Agency