The World Health Organization (WHO) actively participated in the 2nd Summit on Health Care Integration in the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), held from 13 to 15 May 2026, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a meeting that brought together policymakers, experts and partners to promote the integration of healthcare in CPLP countries.
The focus of this Summit was the sharing of experiences, evidence and best practices to address the current challenges facing health systems, with an emphasis on the integration of care, a person-centred approach and coordination between sectors.
WHO Cape Verde participated at various stages, presenting topics in technical panel discussions, taking part in parallel sessions, and undertaking field visits, amongst other activities.
During her address, the WHO Representative in Cape Verde, Ann Lindstrand, who was part of the panel discussion on ‘The Impact of Health Determinants’, highlighted the impact of social, economic and environmental determinants on the demand for healthcare. During her speech, she also emphasized that health inequalities require multisectoral responses and stressed the need to build increasingly integrated, equitable and person-centred health systems. She also noted that the ‘health in all policies’ approach creates synergies and aims to improve the health of the population and health equity.
Edith Pereira, the expert responsible for health promotion and social determinants of health, took part in the panel on ICOPE (Integrated Care for Older People) and Healthy Ageing, where she highlighted Primary Health Care (PHC) as the foundation for achieving Universal Health Coverage and improving the population’s health outcomes, in conjunction with the approach to integrated care in the context of healthy ageing. His presentation was based on the ICOPE (Integrated Care for Older People) strategy, which aims primarily to reorient health systems towards continuous, older-person-centred care, to promote functional capacity and autonomy throughout life, and to integrate health and social care, with a strong community-based foundation.
It is also worth noting that there were high-level contributions from the WHO Regional Director for Europe during the opening session, as well as presentations by experts from this region on topics related to quality healthcare and health management, and the integration of care.
The WHO office in Cape Verde also participated in the CineCuidado session with the screening of the video ‘Implementation of Integrated Health Care for Older People in the City of Assomada’, which was shown and recognized as a pioneering initiative using audiovisual media to disseminate good practices and share experiences in the field of integrated care.
This Summit reinforced the importance of promoting cooperation among Portuguese-speaking countries to address common challenges, of developing evidence-based policies to reduce health inequalities, and of investing in more integrated, resilient and sustainable health systems.
The Summit also served as a platform for the development of a collaborative network for integrated care within the CPLP, where countries reaffirmed the principles and commitments set out in the 2025 Lisbon Charter and renewed their commitment to accelerating the transformation of health and social protection systems in the Portuguese-speaking world, with the signing of the 2026 Rio de Janeiro Letter of Commitment. The Cape Verdean delegation also included experts from the National Health Directorate and the National Institute of Public Health.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of World Health Organization (WHO) – Cabo Verde.
