Public health is one of those invisible gears that keep a society functioning. When everything is going well, almost no one notices. When it fails, the impact is immediate. This week’s “Vamos Falar de Saúde” program focused precisely on this behind-the-scenes aspect of collective health, with the participation of the Head of the Public Health Department, Kama Sandra Chimuco.
At the beginning of the conversation, she explained that the Public Health Department works on a dimension that is often less visible in medicine: the health of the community as a whole. Instead of treating only the individual patient, the focus is on preventing problems before they turn into crises. To this end, the work is based on three fundamental pillars:
1.Epidemiological surveillance and disease monitoring
2.Health promotion and prevention within communities
3.Strategic organization of health services.
One of the central themes addressed was the cholera situation. According to Kama Sandra Chimuco, the outbreak has shown signs of slowing down, but the state of alert must be maintained. She highlighted a positive piece of data: the municipality of Lubango has not registered any new cases recently. Even so, she reinforced that the absence of cases does not mean that precautions can be abandoned, since continuous prevention is the best way to avoid new outbreaks.
Another interesting point of the conversation was the role of communication in public health. In many communities, the language barrier hindered the transmission of prevention messages, especially when the information was disseminated only in Portuguese. This challenge has been overcome with the integration of specialists in national languages into health teams, allowing information to reach the population clearly and effectively and strengthening local surveillance and early disease detection systems.
During the program, rabies vaccination was also discussed. In the municipality of Lubango, more than 1,146 cases of animal attacks were registered, the highest rate in the province. Despite this, all patients received assistance. The official advised that, in case of an attack, it is crucial to immediately seek medical attention at a hospital and provide important information, such as the type of animal attacking and whether it was vaccinated.
Regarding routine vaccinations, the province is prepared to meet the demand. The appeal was directed to parents and guardians: rigorously adhering to children’s vaccination schedules remains one of the most effective ways to protect public health.
In closing, Kama Sandra Chimuco acknowledged that the public health sector still faces challenges, but emphasized the significant progress made over the years. She therefore reaffirmed her commitment to continue improving care, surveillance, and response to health needs in all hospital units in the province.
Ultimately, the logic of public health is almost philosophical: small actions repeated by many people produce large effects on society. Washing hands, vaccinating a child, storing water safely—simple gestures that, added together, make an entire community more resistant to disease.