Health
Ribeira Grande had the same hospital institutions as existed at the time in Portugal. The Misericórdia Hospital provided high quality healthcare for the period, and the Câmara (chamber) dedicated its attention to the wellbeing of the population, as illustrated by its expenditure on “physicians”.
History says little about the inland areas or the other islands, and all that is known is that the famines caused by drought regularly decimated the populations, and it can be logically deduced that endemic illnesses, such as malaria, had a severe effect on public health.
From the 1950’s, following the last great famines on the archipelago, the Missão de Endemias (Mission for Endemic Illnesses) was created in Cape Verde to eliminate the endemic illnesses, particularly cholera and malaria. This aim was fully achieved in the 1960’s, not without resistance, which was essentially linked to traditions among a group of the population of Santiago, who had reservations about chemical disinfectants.
The demographic situation reacted immediately, with dramatic falls in the mortality rates and a vigourous growth in the population.
The independent governments of Cape Verde established programs and goals for health, especially in relation to training of new doctors and construction of hospitals and clinics across the entire country, strengthening the health of the population on all the islands of the country, and over the 35 years of independence a high quality network of health facilities has been established.
Ribeira Grande had the same hospital institutions as existed at the time in Portugal. The Misericórdia Hospital provided high quality healthcare for the period, and the Câmara (chamber) dedicated its attention to the wellbeing of the population, as illustrated by its expenditure on “physicians”.
History says little about the inland areas or the other islands, and all that is known is that the famines caused by drought regularly decimated the populations, and it can be logically deduced that endemic illnesses, such as malaria, had a severe effect on public health.
From the 1950’s, following the last great famines on the archipelago, the Missão de Endemias (Mission for Endemic Illnesses) was created in Cape Verde to eliminate the endemic illnesses, particularly cholera and malaria. This aim was fully achieved in the 1960’s, not without resistance, which was essentially linked to traditions among a group of the population of Santiago, who had reservations about chemical disinfectants.
The demographic situation reacted immediately, with dramatic falls in the mortality rates and a vigourous growth in the population.
The independent governments of Cape Verde established programs and goals for health, especially in relation to training of new doctors and construction of hospitals and clinics across the entire country, strengthening the health of the population on all the islands of the country, and over the 35 years of independence a high quality network of health facilities has been established.
