Over the next three years, the OncoInvest Project will work towards improving clinical monitoring and the adequacy of therapy for cancer patients in Mozambique, by strengthening the means of diagnosis and the skills of healthcare professionals. The project also includes the creation of an operational tumour biobank and the dissemination of scientific knowledge by Mozambican doctors and researchers in the field of oncology, namely through the creation of a master’s degree in oncology. OncoInvest will also promote partnerships with other international and PALOP research centres and academic institutions.

This project has been financed with over 800,000 euros, with Camões I.P. contributing 70% and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation 30%.

The Faculty of Medicine of the Eduardo Mondlane University (FAMED-UEM) will be responsible for its implementation in Mozambique, under the coordination of doctor and researcher Carla Carrilho and in close co-ordination with the Maputo Central Hospital. In Portugal, the Centro Hospitalar de São João, the Instituto Português de Oncologia do Porto and the Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto (IPATIMUP) will also be technical partners in this project.

The collaboration protocol will be signed on 20 February at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation by the organisations involved in the project. In addition to the Gulbenkian Foundation, leaders from Camões I.P., Maputo Central Hospital and the Eduardo Mondlane Faculty of Medicine will also be present.

This initiative is in line with the support provided by the Partnerships with Africa programme for integrated oncology care in Mozambique, which began in 2013, as well as more recent support for health research in the PALOP countries.
In the field of oncology in Mozambique, the Foundation is also supporting a project to strengthen the teaching of pathological anatomy using digital microscopy and, in partnership with the “la Caixa” Foundation, a project looking for alternative methods of diagnosing and treating breast cancer.