Fiocruz signs four cooperation agreements during Brazil-Portugal Summit

Fiocruz played a key role in the 14th Brazil-Portugal Summit, that took place on Wednesday (02/19) in Brasília. At the high-level meeting, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva discussed with Prime Minister Luís Montenegro bilateral cooperation in various areas, such as health, science and technology, the economy and justice, and celebrated 200 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

President of Fiocruz, Mario Moreira, participated in the thematic health panel, led by the Health ministers of Brazil, Nísia Trindade Lima, and Portugal, Ana Paula Martins (photo: Pamela Lang)

During the event, ministers from different areas of the two countries discussed topics of interest for cooperation at thematic panels. One of the outcomes of the meeting was that the minister of Health, Nísia Trindade Lima, announced that she intends to move forward with a new agreement that will lay the foundations for a Fiocruz office to be set up in Portugal. President Lula himself later reinforced the office's announcement in a statement to the press.

"One of the great advances made in our discussion was to have a new Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen cooperation in the area of health. One of the points to be dealt with in this new agreement will be the basis for setting up a Fiocruz office, alongside other Brazilian institutions, in Portugal. The memorandum will have three dimensions: bilateral collaboration, our role in the European community, and cooperation within the [Community of Portuguese-Language Countries] CPLP," said the minister.

The president of Fiocruz, Mario Moreira, took part in the thematic panel on health, led by the ministers of Health of Brazil, Nísia Trindade Lima, and Portugal, Ana Paula Martins. Points of strategic articulation in health and the importance of Fiocruz as a representation of the Brazilian government in this cooperation were discussed at two other panels, on science and technology, in terms of promoting research and on the subject of economic development, with possibilities in the field of innovation and vaccine production.

In the end, as rapporteur for the health panel, Minister Nísia Trindade Lima reinforced to President Lula the main points discussed by the group, with an emphasis on cooperation that could contribute to solving challenges common to both countries, such as policies to foster innovation and local production, the alliance against hunger, the reorganization of health systems with better integration of primary care and family health, and hospital care.

Also at the Planalto Palace, the president of Fiocruz, Mario Moreira, signed four cooperation agreements with Portuguese institutions. The Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) involve important institutions on the international stage such as the NOVA University Lisbon and the University of Coimbra, the Engineering and Product Development Centre (CEiiA), the Atlantic International Research Centre (AIR Centre), and the Biocant Park, in areas ranging from education and public health to technology, innovation, and the production of medicines.

NOVA-Fiocruz Global Health Innovation Center

A strategic alliance between Fiocruz, the Institute of Molecular Biology of Paraná (IBMP, the result of a partnership between the Foundation and the state government), represented by director-president Pedro Ribeiro Barbosa, and NOVA University Lisbon, through the NOVA Medical School, represented by director Helena Cristina De Matos Canhão, will create the NOVA-Fiocruz Global Health Innovation Center. The new center establishes an innovation environment focused on democratizing access to health technologies and strengthening public health systems.

The Brazilian minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Luciana Santos, and the minister of Education, Science, and Innovation of Portugal, Fernando Alexandre (5th from left to right), participated in the ceremony for the signing of agreements between Fiocruz and Portuguese institution (photo: Pamela Lang)

NOVA-Fiocruz will have a structure for teaching, research, and innovation in global health. It provides for multidisciplinary research projects that promote technological solutions to health challenges; academic and professional training, including stricto and lato sensu programs; and the creation of partnerships to implement sustainable technologies. Key areas of work and research include strengthening universal health systems, crisis resilience, the One Health approach, and antimicrobial resistance.

The center will also act as a hub that will integrate the pillars of teaching, research, and extension services to the community, further launching a Doctorate in Global Health Innovation, with the possibility of a double degree from Nova Medical School (NMS) and Fiocruz.

Innovation and technology for public health

Another Memorandum of Understanding establishes cooperation between Fiocruz, the Engineering and Product Development Centre (CEiiA), and the Institute of Molecular Biology of Paraná (IBMP). It aims to cooperate in the areas of exchange programs, research into technological development, and innovation in health products.

The new MoU provides for projects that expand knowledge and institutional capacity for technological development, innovation, and technology transfer; programs for research, development, and distribution of products in the short, medium, and long term, in continuous exchange, favoring the development of public health. Based in Matosinhos, Northern Portugal, CEiiA is a center whose aim is to develop new sustainable technologies, with which the Foundation already had a partnership, through IBMP, in the 4LifeLAB collaborative laboratory. The agreement is signed by Mario Moreira; the president of CEiiA, José Rui Felizardo; and the director-president of IBMP, Pedro Ribeiro Barbosa.

Blue One Health

Establishing international cooperation in the area of Blue One Health, which integrates the relationship between human, animal, and ocean health, is the aim of the MoU between Fiocruz, represented by its president Mario Moreira, and the Atlantic International Research Centre (AIR Centre) and its CEO Miguel Miranda. Based in the Azores, the AIR Centre is an international collaborative structure for tackling the global challenges and local priorities of the Atlantic Ocean.

The Blue One Health approach raises awareness of the importance of the ocean for maintaining health and life on Earth, contributing to achieving the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The collaboration between the two institutions aims to develop joint projects; create platforms, observatories, and repositories for the dissemination of knowledge; promote academic exchange and the exchange of technical information; and hold joint conferences and publications.

Development of medicinal products

The research and development of pharmacological products is also on the list of bilateral agreements. The Institute of Drug Technology (Farmanguinhos/Fiocruz), represented by director Jorge Souza Mendonça, and president Mario Moreira signed an MoU with the University of Coimbra, through vice-dean Nuno Ricardo Furtado Dias Mendonça, and the Biocant Park, represented by sole director Delfina Gernay Cardoso Moreira. The agreement aims to establish cooperation for research, technological development, and pharmaceutical innovation, with an emphasis on medicinal products based on Cannabis sativa.

Under the agreement, the partners will work on developing pre-formulation and quality control studies for medicinal cannabis products; promoting academic and technical knowledge exchange; and exploring opportunities for innovation in the pharmaceutical sector. A Steering Committee has been appointed which includes a representative from the Center for International Relations in Health (Cris/Fiocruz); as well as Jorge Mendonça, from Farmanguinhos; Luís Saraiva Silva, from the University of Coimbra; and Joana de Oliveira Branco, from Biocant.

Read also: CNPq, Fiocruz and FCT launch call for scientific cooperation between Brazil and Portugal