This two-day event, with the high patronage of the Portuguese Embassy in São Tomé and Príncipe (STP), of the STP Minister of Health and Social Affairs, who will attend the opening session, and the STP Prime Minister, who will attend the closing session, will focus on the “Ear”. The speakers of the sessions will be physicians of Hospital CUF Infante Santo, Hospital D. Estefânia and professors of the Portuguese Catholic University and Faculty of Medical Sciences of the Nova University of Lisbon. Noteworthy was also Paulo Macedo’s (Minister of Heath in Portugal) message of congratulations sent to the Prime Minister of São Tomé supporting this event.
As part of a IMVF partnership with the Ministry of Education, Training and Culture of São Tomé and Principe, the STP Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and Mota Engil, a pilot project will be launched for the creation of a Sign Language Dictionary in São Tomé and Príncipe, which is an important step for the communication of deaf children from STP.
At the inception of this project are the needs assessed in STP by Instituto Marquês de Valle Flôr while implementing the project “Heath for All: Integrated Programme of Heath for All”, a project combating non transmissible diseases. IMVF’s findings included a high number of children with profound deafness, the non existence of São Toméan Sign Language, a deficient institutional framework to integrate the deaf community in São Tomé, and a lack of legislative measures to improve the life quality of the hearing impaired community, which had been worsen by exclusive oral teaching and limited access to speech therapy.
Believing that this project can contribute to the enhancement of the auditive scope of the country, the programme includes follow up audiophonology appointments, prosthetic placing, and training of specialised technicians and creation of an adapted language, whose national dissemination depends on finding new financial resources.
Find here the Programme of the First Portuguese São Toméan Conferences on Otorhinolaryngology.