Sílvia Paula Valentim Lutucuta (born 14 July 1968) is an Angolan politician and cardiologist, the Minister of Health from 2017.
Sílvia Lutucuta | |
|---|---|
.png) Lutucuta in 2024 | |
| Born | 14 July 1967[1] |
| Other name | Sílvia Paula Valentim Lutucuta |
| Alma mater | Agostinho Neto University |
| Occupations | Cardiologist and politician |
| Known for | Angolan Minister of Health |
Early life and education
editLutucuta was born in Huambo in 1967. At the age of 16, he entered the Faculty of Medicine of Agostinho Neto University. She completed her degree in 1990, and graduated with honors. She was offered a scholarship for postgraduate studies. She specialized in cardiology at Hospital de Santa Maria, Lisbon, Portugal.[1] In 2000 she moved to Houston in Texas where she undertook postdoctoral research at Baylor College of Medicine.[2]
Lutacuta joined the Angolan Society of Cardiovascular Diseases.[3] She is a member of the Member of the MPLA Political Bureau.[1] In 2017 she was nominated to be the Minister of Health in Angola. She has created thousands of new jobs, especially in rural layers. Under her leadership vaccines for COVID-19 were rolled out in her country and she organised the funding.[2]
In 2025 she was able to announce that over 900,000 people in Angola were going to be vaccinated against cholera using the oral vaccine Eurovisol. The ministry had about 1,000 teams backed up by volunteers. The epicentre of the outbreak was in Cacuaco and that was where the campaign was announced. People would be vaccinated in Luanda, Bengo and Icolo provinces.[4] The speed of the response was welcomed by the UN Resident Coordinator in Angola, Dr Zahira Virani and Luís Nunes, Governor of the Province of Luanda.[5] By July, a million people had been vaccinated in Cabinda, Kwanza Sul, Huíla, Lunda Norte, Namibe and Zaire with only babies under one year excluded. Lutacuta backed plans to get two million people vaccinated.[6]
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 "Ministro - Biografia de Sílvia Paula Valentim Lutucuta". governo.gov.ao (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 26 November 2023. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
- 1 2 "Silvia Lutucuta". www.gavi.org. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
- ↑ "Federação das Sociedades de Cardiologia de Língua Portuguesa". fsclp.org. Retrieved 2022-07-12.
- ↑ "Angola: Over 900,000 People to Be Vaccinated Against Cholera". Angola Press Agency. 2025-02-04. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
- ↑ "Speech at the launch of the Cholera Vaccination Campaign | WHO | Regional Office for Africa". www.afro.who.int. 2025-02-03. Retrieved 2025-08-10.
- ↑ "Cholera-ridden Angola: Vaccination offers hope for 2m people". APAnews - African Press Agency. 2025-07-13. Retrieved 2025-08-11.