ABOUT US
The history of the National Institute of Health (INS) begins in 1955 with the founding of the then Mozambican Institute of Medical Research (IIMM). However, due to the economic, social, and political circumstances of the time (1970), this entity was renamed the Provincial Institute of Public Health (IPSP), a change that allowed the then IIMM to adapt to the new reality of the former colony of Mozambique.
In order to ensure the unity and coherence of the restructuring of the central services of the then Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, the Transitional Government (Mozambican) decreed the change of the name of IPSP to the National Institute of Public Health (INSP), considered a central body of this ministry.
However, with the advent of national independence, in August 1975 INSP was renamed the National Health Institute (INS), an institution essentially composed of the Malaria and Parasitology laboratories and integrated into the National Directorate of Preventive Medicine (DNMP) of the Ministry of Health (MISAU). At that time, the INS's mission was basically the maintenance of the aforementioned laboratories, which constituted the core of endemic disease research in Mozambique.
Over time, specifically in 1980, the INS ceased to be part of the DNMP of MISAU and began reporting directly to the Minister of Health. With this transition, the INS assumed responsibility for supporting various MISAU programs, as well as training personnel to achieve its objectives. During this period (the 80s and early 90s), although the focus of its activities was malaria, the INS distinguished itself in studies on Hepatitis B and the diagnosis of the first HIV cases in the country.
Still in the 1990s, the INS underwent a series of reforms, culminating in the creation of a collegial body for technical-scientific advice to the INS Directorate, as well as the beginning of the establishment of health research units and centers.
Thus, by virtue of the restructuring initiated in previous years, in the 2000s (2004), the INS became an institution subordinate to the Ministry of Health, with the approval of its first Organic Statute. During this period, among several attributions, the INS had the function of coordinating the elaboration and adoption of the National Research Agenda, as well as conducting health research to solve Public Health problems in Mozambique.
In the 2010s, INS took on the mission of producing evidence to support the formulation of health policies in Mozambique, through the approval of the first Strategic Plan (2010-2014). During this period, the process of restructuring the institution's functional organizational chart began, moving from a classic vertical operating structure to a matrix structure, as well as the construction of its own headquarters building (2014) in order to drive the definition of its role and structure.
It is on this path that in 2018, the INS, through the approval of the new Organic Statute, became an entity for the management, regulation, and oversight of scientific evidence generation activities in health for the guarantee of better health and well-being, endowed with legal personality and administrative and technical-scientific autonomy. With the approval of this legal instrument, the INS ceased to be subordinate and is now overseen by the Minister responsible for Health. It has initiated the process of intensifying research coordination at the national level, with the recent creation of provincial delegations in the city of Maputo and the provinces of Sofala and Nampula.
The INS has been directed by several health professionals in Mozambique, namely:
- 1977 – 1983: Dr. Jorge Cabral
- 1983 – 1989: Dr. João Schwalbach
- 1989 – 1992: Dr. Jorge Barreto
- 1992 – 1997: Dr. Rui Gama Vaz
- 1997 – 2000: Dr. Martinho Dgedge
- 2000 – 2001: Dr. Adelaide Bela Agostinho
- 2001 – 2009: Dr. João Fumane
- 2009 – 2022: Dr. Ilesh Jani
- 2023 to present: Dr. Eduardo Samo Gudo Jr.
