The Mozambican physician João Schwalbach, an internationally renowned public health specialist, will be awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree next 30 September in the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) in Portugal.
The ceremony of the Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Porto is part of the 4th Symposium of the Portuguese-speaking Medical Schools Network (CODEM-LP), under the theme “Reflecting the Present, Building the Future”, which will celebrate the cooperation between Portuguese-speaking countries, with the presence of several of their representatives.
The FMUP’s proposal, approved by the University of Porto, aims to praise the important role played by João Schwalbach for the “substantial improvement in the quality of medicine teaching and public health practice in Mozambique”.
Altamiro da Costa Pereira, Director of FMUP, will be the godfather of the PhD student and Manuel Sobrinho Simões, Professor Emeritus of FMUP, will be in charge of delivering the eulogy of João Schwalbach. The Master of Ceremonies will be Fátima Carneiro, FMUP Full Professor.
Born in Tete, Mozambique, in 1942, João Fernando Lima Schwalbach graduated in Medicine from the Eduardo Mondlane University (UEM), Maputo, in 1975, having obtained the equivalence of degree in Medicine from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) in 1992.
He has played an important role in the areas of Public Health and Medical Ethics in his country. He was at the head of the Maputo City and Province Health Directorate, the National Health Institute and the World Health Organization’s Maputo Regional Health Development Centre.
He was also director of the Faculty of Medicine at the Eduardo Mondlane University, as well as member of the Academic and University Councils of this institution. He was also chairman of the National Commission to Combat HIV / AIDS and Coordinator of the National Coordination Centre of the National Programme to Combat HIV / AIDS in Mozambique.
He is currently president of the Mozambican Association of Public Health (AMOSAPU), the National Bioethics Committee for Health in Mozambique (CNBS), the General Assembly Board of the Mozambican Association for the Study of Pain and the General Assembly Board of the Association of Writers and Artists of Mozambique (AMEAM).
He is also Coordinator of the LusoAfro-Bioethics Project – Strengthening of Bioethics Committees in Portuguese-speaking African Countries, as well as director of the Higher School of Health Sciences of the Higher Institute of Science and Technology of Mozambique (ISCTEM) and member of the Technical Advisory Committee on Malaria.
Cumulatively, he is a recognized precursor of the creation of collaboration channels with Mozambican and foreign institutions, namely with the FMUP, having played, together with the latter institution, a crucial role in the education of several generations of Portuguese and Mozambican health professionals, in an effort to develop scientific research, pioneering the improvement of medical assistance in Mozambique.
