A new project was created in the Algarve, called Algarve Coração Seguro, which consists of training citizens on basic life support. 

This project teaches citizens to use automatic external defibrillators, preparing them to help victims in case of cardiorespiratory arrest.

Watch the news report here.

Colorectal cancer (CCR) is one of the most frequent malignancies, both worldwide, where there are about 1.5 million new cases per year, and in Portugal, where there are about 7000 new cases of CCR per year, being the 2nd most frequent type of cancer in both sexes.

In addition, CCR is the leading cause of cancer death in Portugal, the second in Europe and the third worldwide.

Screening for CCR not only offers the possibility of early detection of this neoplasm, but also, and more importantly, the prevention of the occurrence of CCR.

Learn more here.

The Municipal Council of Education of Loulé, in a meeting held on July 7th at 9:30 am, congratulates and recognizes the professionalism, support and absolutely essential work of all professionals of the “ABC Algarve Biomedical Center” in preventing the impacts of the pandemic by COVID19, for which comes the offer of the public praise and recognition vote to all the professionals of the Academic Center for Research and Biomedical Training of the Algarve “ABC - Algarve Biomedical Center”, in the person of its President, Dr. Nuno Marques.

Learn more here.

The Portuguese Network for Healthy and Active Ageing – RePEnSA has already been officially created, comprising the 4 National Reference Centers, Porto4Ageing, Ageing@Coimbra, Lisbon AHA and Algarve Active Ageing.

RePEnSA delivered to the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Dr. Ana Mendes Godinho, a document prepared by the Network with Contributions to the National Plan for Active and Healthy Ageing.
 
This joint work aims to empower the population for ageing, promote the autonomy of the elderly and improve their quality of life.
 
Algarve Active Ageing thanks all the regional partners, with whom we will continue to work on the huge challenge of demographic changes in the next decade (2021-2030).

On August 5th, LIFESAVING celebrates its 5th anniversary.

 
The launch of Edition nº 21 of the Magazine will reveal a strategic change in the Editorial aspect of the Project, namely:
 
- the individualization of the scientific publication: LIFESAVING SCIENTIFIC, with a new ISSN, as a continuation of the previous SEPARATA SCIENTIFIC (released in the 12th Edition of the Journal, May 2019), and with the intention of becoming indexed in the short term, and may occupy a place of reference in its scope of publication, increasing prestige and attracting more and more articles and critical mass for the Project.

- the optimization of the LIFESAVING publication (with all the usual Dissemination Rubrics, and which do not meet the scientific criteria for indexing); - with the change of the subtitle to "Revista de Emergência Médica" instead of "Revista das VMER de Faro and Albufeira", more in line with the reach that the publication has achieved nationwide in recent years.

This strategy will benefit both publications, as well as the LIFESAVING Project in all aspects. Both journals (scientific and dissemination) may evolve distinctly, each conquering its place, and corresponding to the expectations of the respective target audiences.

 
 "All the evolution that took place would not be possible without the indispensable support of our Partners, who honor us greatly. On behalf of the entire Editorial Team, I thank all the Algarve Biomedical Center's trust, commitment and dedication to the LIFESAVING Project.", Bruno Santos, Editor-in-Chief of LifeSaving Magazine.

At the ceremony for the signing of the contract-program to increase the number of places in the Medicine course at the University of Algarve, the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, highlighted the role that the ABC played in combating the COVID-19 pandemic, from setting up a "Drive-thru", to the testing operations and the projects created and developed, it was the ABC that coordinated the entire testing operations at the national level for homes and that is why there is a set of activities that today show that the teaching of medicine and biomedical activity in the Algarve is not only recommended, but has become a reference at a European level.

Learn more here.

The SupERa Platform was developed with the aim of providing continuous support to residential structures for the elderly and residential homes in the prevention and early detection of respiratory infections in residents.

The Membership and use of SupERa are free, institutions can register at www.supera.pt

This Portuguese Network is made up of 4 National Reference Centers, Porto4Ageing, Ageing@Coimbra, Lisbon-AHA and Algarve Active Ageing. This Ceremony will be attended by the Rectors of the Universities of Porto, Coimbra, Nova de Lisboa and Algarve and will be present the Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Dr. Ana Mendes Godinho. This is a big step towards active and healthy aging in Portugal.

The ceremony can be watched live via the following link.

Positive tests to Covid-19 carried out at the Albufeira Testing Center to non-residents and foreigners living outside the municipality are not counted in Albufeira.

The Municipality of Albufeira clarifies some points about the way how they count positive tests for foreign citizens or non-residents.

Nuno Marques, President of ABC, considered that the closure of the 1st and 2nd cycle schools in the municipalities of Albufeira, Faro, Loulé, Olhão and São Brás de Alportel is justified by the "number of active cases".

He reminds that it is important that people understand, that it is possible to have a social life without neglecting the necessary procedures to keep the pandemic under control.

Learn more here.

Guest at RTP Antena Aberta, Dr. Nuno Marques, President of ABC, comments on the different variants of COVID-19, the importance of physical distance and other essential aspects in fighting the pandemic.

Learn more here.

Interview from Diário de Notícias to Dr. Nuno Marques, President of the Algarve Biomedical Center and Coordinator of the Network of Scientific Laboratories for Emergency Situations and Public Health Risks.

At the beginning of the pandemic there was a great need to carry out tests on COVID-19, and given the scarcity of kits on the market, the offices of the ministers of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, Ana Mendes Godinho, and of Technology, Science and Education Superior, Manuel Heitor, had the strategic vision of putting national research centers in contact with each other, thus allowing the organization of a national network of academic laboratories that were and are a successful example in Europe and the world.

In addition to all the work that has been carried out within the scope of COVID-19, ABC is currently involved in several scientific projects, namely, in the European Network for Active Aging, the creation of the Medical Entomology Research Center of a Seroteca, a Public Bank of Umbilical Cord Cells, the BioBanco and a Surgery Training Center.

Read the full interview here.

The celebration of Europe Day, marked on 9 May, will be brought forward to 7 May in the form of a Dialogue with Citizens entitled "What Europe does for the health of Europeans".

This is a joint initiative of the Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR) of the Algarve Region, the University of Algarve (UAlg), the ABC-Algarve Biomedical Center and the European Information Center Europe Direct Algarve.

The event is scheduled for May 7th at 4:30 pm and will take place in a mixed format, with a face-to-face table at the Clinical Simulation Center, at the UAlg Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, in Faro, and will feature several participations via live streaming on UAlg's YouTube and Facebook channels, CCDR Algarve's Facebook and Europe Direct Algarve.

It is intended to open a space for reflection in the near future, with regard to investments promoted by various partners in the region and by the health policy of the European Union and to clarify and disseminate the responses, both in the pandemic crisis and in the post-pandemic, aligning the event, simultaneously, with the objectives of the Conference on the Future of Europe.

The responses of the European Union in the area of Health and the New Program “EU pela Saúde”, the action plan of the Algarve Biomedical Center (partnership of UAlg and CHUA - Centro Hospitalar Universitário do Algarve) and the responses in the Algarve and in the Euroregion Alentejo – Algarve – Andalusia (EuroAAA) to the COVID-19 pandemic.

More information about the event here.

Deserved tribute to the physician and researcher Maria de Sousa, who died 1 year ago, a victim of COVID-19.

The immunologist Maria de Sousa, developed her scientific career at the University of Porto, at the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICBAS), having spent her academic career in England, Scotland and the United States of America, where she directed the Laboratory of Cell Ecology from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. On her return to Porto, as a Professor at ICBAS, she was responsible for creating the Master's Degree in Immunology.

Maria de Sousa was one of the first Portuguese women to be internationally recognized for her scientific discoveries and her remarkable contribution about the immune system.

Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards and distinctions at a national and international level, such as the “Stimulus to Excellence” Award, awarded by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, in 2004, the University of Coimbra Award (2011) , the University of Lisbon Prize, in 2017 and the Mina Bissel Prize, in 2018.

"As I may die and you must live. In your living the hope of my lasting" - Maria de Sousa (1939-2020)

One year ago, the “Heroes of Tests” program was launched, which resulted from a partnership between the Ministry of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security and the Academy.

During a year of preventive diagnostic testing in nursing homes, around 306,000 tests were carried out in across the country, which allowed 880 outbreaks to be avoided in these units.

In order to protect the elderly and prevent outbreaks, the protocol for carrying out diagnostic tests to COVID-19 was reinforced to ensure preventive testing in residential structures for the elderly, until the end of June.

In addition to the protocol signed under the “Testing Heroes”, a network of scientific laboratories for emergency situations and public health risks, coordinated by the Algarve Biomedical Center, was also formalized through a protocol between the research centers (ABC).

This cooperation has existed since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic, but informally, explained Nuno Marques, president of ABC and coordinator of the network.

"The agreement that was signed here today is that this network will remain united, for this pandemic and also for other situations, whether in the scope of public health or in the national interest, so that as soon as there is any development and need, it will be put into practice”, explained Nuno Marques.

Learn more here.