Dr Palmira Fortunato dos Santos

Coordinator of the Mental Health, Trauma and Violence Program – Research Development and Management Department, National Institute of Health, Marracuene District, Mozambique

Biography

Professor of Mental Health Policies and Services and coordinator of the Mental Health Masters degree program, Faculty of Medicine, Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo City, Mozambique

Palmira Fortunato dos Santos has worked at Maputo Central hospital in Mozambique as a clinical psychologist and integrated the mental health team at the Mozambique Ministry of Health in 2006. She was the coordinator of the Mental Health Department Research Service at the Ministry of Health from 2014–23, focusing on the development and implementation of mental health policies and strategies, organization of mental health services, team management, and research coordination. She led Mozambique's first assessment of mental health services and the implementation of the project to integrate epilepsy care and treatment into primary health care.

Palmira’s research focuses on integrating mental health into communities and primary health care using task shifting and sharing strategies. She co-leads research in the area of intimate partner violence, adolescent mental health, validation of neuropsychological tests and the National Survey of Non-Communicable Diseases risk factors (STEPS 2024).