Jorge Varanda

University of Coimbra | UC · Department of Life Sciences

The perfect storm model that was elaborated for the HIV-1M pandemic has also been used to explain the emergence of HIV-2, a second human immunodeficiency virus-acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV-AIDS) that became an epidemic in Guinea-Bissau, West Africa. The use of this model creates epidemiological generalizations, ecological oversimplificat...

Chapter 7 by Jorge Varanda examines the other important HIVs that emerged in the 1940s and 1950s, but in an entirely different region: the HIV-2 viruses in West Africa. The original host for the simian virus precursor was the sooty mangabey monkey, from which HIV adaptations have been found to have crossed over to humans nine times, with two becomi...

What is the impact of COVID-19 on Portugal’s Serviço Nacional de Saúde (SNS), the country’s national health service? The story, still unfolding, has all the elements of a recipe for disaster: one of the most elderly populations in the world; a weakened SNS, the result of a litany of policies and interventions by the ‘Troika’ (the European Commissio...

Ouvir a Antropologia para realmente entender as epidemias – Lições do HIV/AIDS, Ébola, ZIKA e Febre Amarela para o COVID-19

The West-African sooty mangabey (Cercocebus atys) is threatened by habitat loss, hunting for meat consumption, and mortality during crop-foraging events. The species' overall demographic trend is unknown. Presence and distribution in Guinea-Bissau, a country neighbored by Senegal and Republic of Guinea, was confirmed in 1946 but the species was dec...

This analysis of over a century of public health campaigns against human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) in Angola aims to unravel the role of (utopian) dreams in global health. Attention to the emergence and use of concepts such as neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and ideas about elimination or eradication highlights how these concep...

The EVD and YFV epidemics demonstrated two radically different models for data sharing during epidemic response - a routine data sharing environment, as compared to an extraordinary event classified as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Business as Usual vs. PHEIC In our analysis, the YFV epidemic of 2016 that affected Angola, the...

GHTM Session Program: Characterization of Drug-Resistant TB and HIV, and associated socio-behavioral factors among migrants in Lisbon, Portugal Isabel Couto | Marta Pingarilho | Inês Fronteira Urban Malaria in Africa: new insights into social, geographic and vector population genetics factors Patrícia Salgueiro | Jorge Varanda | César Capinha...

http://anaisihmt.com/index.php/ihmt/article/view/26 Lately, regardless of considerable progress in the elimination of malaria, this disease remains a major public health problem in tropical regions, prevailing in countries with weak health systems. Increased investment in recent decades resulted in the development of new tools and solutions for th...

Most explanations for the epidemic spread of HIV-2 (the lesser known AIDS virus affecting 1.5 million) casually suggest migrations, urbanization, war, commercial sex, STDs and biomedicine as underlying reasons, but present little or no evidence to substantiate or differentiate them. By complementing historical epidemiology and virology with histo...

Introduction: In 2015 half of the world’s population was at risk of malaria. However, it is Sub-Saharan Africa that bares the brunt of deaths (1) . Angola is no exception. The country’s population is considered at risk, but the most affected groups are children under five years old and pregnant women. The disease is caused by the transmission of Pl...

Se procurarmos uma entidade que marque, como nenhuma outra, a presença portuguesa no Ocidente de África, ao longo do século XX, encontramo-la na Companhia de Diamantes de Angola – Diamang, que operou entre 1917 e 1975, sendo a maior contribuinte e a principal empregadora da Angola colonial nesse período. Rótulos que lhe eram apostos, como “um estad...

Background The Dande Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) located in Bengo Province, Angola, covers nearly 65,500 residents living in approximately 19,800 households. This study aims to describe the main causes of deaths (CoD) occurred within the HDSS, from 2009 to 2012, and to explore associations between demographic or socioeconomic...

Angola borders and has long-term links with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as well as high levels of Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV) genetic diversity, indicating a potential role in the initial spread of the HIV-1 pandemic. Herein, we analyze 564 C2V3 and 354 pol publicly available sequences from DRC, Republic of Congo (RC) and Angola to be...

http://www.rtp.pt/play/p401/e208064/cientifica-mente

This article focuses on the biographies of charismatic women belonging to the neo-traditional churches located in urban and peri-urban areas of Luanda and on local views of the disease and its cure. These female prophets play a central role in the ecumenical social-cultural space of the capital of Angola, and the (re)interpretation of their biograp...

Considering a decade of intermittent fieldwork, secondary literature and, of course, the scholarship on art, ­religion and female prophets featured in this issue, this text aims to highlight broader historical and social processes. It examines both historical and ­contemporary aspects of Angola, as well as global and local relations. In doing so, i...

This article focuses on the biographies of charismatic women belonging to the neo-traditional churches located in urban and peri-urban areas of Luanda and on local views of the disease and its cure. These female prophets play a central role in the ecumenical social-cultural space of the capital of Angola, and the (re)interpretation of their biograp...

Considering a decade of intermittent fieldwork, secondary literature and, of course, the scholarship on art, ­religion and female prophets featured in this issue, this text aims to ­highlight broader historical and social processes. It examines both historical and ­contemporary aspects of Angola, as well as global and local relations. In doing so,...

Prefácio O Projecto CISA resulta de uma parceria entre o Governo Angolano, o Governo Português e a Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian. Estabelecido em 2007, as actividades desenvolvidas têm tido por base objectivos como: a criação do primeiro Centro de Investigação em Saúde de Angola que possa contribuir para um conhecimento mais aprofundado dos principa...

Pretende-se caracterizar a prestação de cuidados biomédicos em Angola durante a atividade da Companhia de Diamantes de Angola. Uma análise comparativa de políticas e práticas de saúde pública de vários atores coloniais, como os serviços de saúde da Companhia, sua congénere do Estado e outras empresas coloniais, revelará diferenças de investimento n...

The Companhia de Diamantes de Angola, or Diamang, mined for diamonds in colonial Angola from 1917 until independence in 1975. The enterprise's Health Services Division (SSD) was responsible for supplying mine managers with an African labour force comprised of healthy, and therefore productive, employees. In practice, though, this otherwise 'healthy...

This text intends to unveil the complexity of biomedical care under the Companhia de Diamantes de Angola (Diamang). It aims to question the persuasive fictions produced by the Diamang regarding the equity of health care provided by its own health services (SSD). A more in-depth analysis unveils that, as in other mining companies in Africa, it did n...

The tropics have been represented in the most diverse ways. For some, this part of the world is a lush paradise on earth, while for others, it is a torrid disease-ridden zone that threatens very human survival. Science has played an important role in many of these representations. Since the 19th century, it has accompanied the colonial project, pro...

Ever more studies have been devoted to the use of medicine in colonial contexts, a topic that serves to illustrate the more subtle ways in which a colonial State may spread its power. Countering the studies of colonial mining companies conducted to date, the case of the Companhia de Diamantes de Angola (Diamang) brings something new to the issue of...