Cabo Verde News

Ana Rita's life has improved since she started attending regular appointments at the local health unit in Assomada, on the island of Santiago.

Seventy-eight year-old Ernesto Cabral understands altruism. It runs in his veins. Ernesto is the nephew of one of Africa’s foremost anti-colonial leaders and Cabo Verde’s national hero, Amílcar Cabral. While his uncle dedicated his life to fight colonial powers in Africa, Ernesto chose to fight a disease that kills an African child every minute: malaria.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has certified Cabo Verde as a malaria-free country, marking a significant achievement in global health. With this announcement, Cabo Verde joins the ranks of 43 countries and 1 territory that WHO has awarded this certification.

Teresa Ramos de Carvalho’s long struggle with hypertension and diabetes has turned around since she began attending regular consultations and receiving her medication free of charge at her local health facility in São Domingos in the central area of Cabo Verde.

Cabo Verde has fully vaccinated more than 40% of its population against COVID-19, reaching the end-of-year World Health Organization (WHO) global target aimed at widening vaccination and helping to turn the tide against the pandemic.

A Medical Doctor with an MSc in Public Health and over 20 years of experience, Dr Carolina Leite led Cabo Verde’s programme to fight malaria and waterborne diseases and served as Director of Patient Management, Medical Records and Statistics at the Agostinho Neto Central Hospital in Praia before joining the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2009.

Cabo Verde has gone for three consecutive years – as of January 2021 – without local malaria transmission, becoming eligible to apply for the World Health Organization (WHO) certification of malaria elimination.

Cabo Verde received Friday, March 12, its first batch of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, sent through the COVAX Initiative, a partnership between the Government of Cabo Verde, CEPI (Coalition for Innovation in Epidemic Preparedness), GAVI (Global Vaccine Alliance) and WHO (World Health Organization), in partnership with UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), the World Bank and others.