The projects were selected by an international jury from a total of 20 candidates in fields of health sciences considered fundamental in Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique. The support of around 100,000 euros per project over three years aims to help strengthen the capacities of research centres at higher education institutions and their involvement with health units, in order to help solve the healthcare challenges in these countries.

In Angola, the support will go to the Katyavala Bwila University project, ‘Capacity Building for Research, Prevention and Treatment of Oncological Diseases in Albinos’, which also has the Central Hospital of Lubango, the Portuguese Oncology Institute of Porto and GONCOinitiative as partners. Led by researcher Maria Madalena Paulo Chimpolo, the project is a response to the high number of people with albinism in the provinces of Huíla and Benguela – regions with high levels of sun exposure, social vulnerabilities and a high incidence of oncological diseases. The aim is to create a solid and integrated infrastructure for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of oncological diseases in albinos, as well as to evaluate molecular and clinical biomarkers, characterise the tumour micro-environment of skin lesions and create a molecular clinical-pathological model that contributes to a better prognosis.

The Oncology Initiative project, promoted by Jean Piaget University in Bissau, aims to create a research ecosystem, integrating teaching, research and care provision. Led by researcher Bubacar Embaló, the project aims to strengthen Guinea-Bissau’s capacity to respond to the oncological challenges it is facing by improving infrastructure and training specialised professionals to increase the rate of early diagnosis and treatment options. Among other challenges, the country has a low rate of early diagnosis of cancer and limited treatment options due to a lack of adequate infrastructure and specialised professionals.

Also in Guinea-Bissau, Lusófona University will receive support for a project, led by Baltazar Cá, which aims to understand the relationship between tuberculosis and diabetes mellitus, one of the chronic non-communicable diseases that are emerging as a growing problem in sub-Saharan Africa, coexisting with high rates of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis. This project intends to carry out a prospective study in two groups of patients previously characterised in terms of latent tuberculosis infection and diabetes mellitus, with the aim of deciphering the bidirectional relationship between the two conditions, assessing the impact of diabetes on the development and progression of tuberculosis, as well as the effect of tuberculosis on glycaemic balance.

In Mozambique, the project by the Faculty of Medicine at Eduardo Mondlane University aims to strengthen the capacity of the Paediatric Research Centres, whose objective is to carry out cutting-edge research in the paediatric area, especially in the preparation of clinical trials for new medicines and vaccines, in collaboration with external institutions and with funding from EDCTP. The project, led by José Sumbana, aims to create infrastructural and technological conditions while strengthening the human resources of the University’s Microbiology Laboratory. The training will focus on good clinical and laboratory practices, the management of clinical trials and bioethical problems.

The We Forward initiative was launched at the end of 2024, when the Gulbenkian Foundation and the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation signed a collaboration agreement with the aim of developing a programme that would promote capacity building in the area of health sciences in the PALOP countries, by strengthening research centres at higher education institutions and connecting them to health units in these countries. Since 2015, via the International Area of the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation and the Partnerships with Africa Programme of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the two foundations have been collaborating on different initiatives with the aim of promoting partnerships and strengthening the global health sector in the PALOP countries.