• André Beer-Furlan, Sérgio G Neto, Manoel J Teixeira, and Eberval G Figueiredo.
• Department of Neurological Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Electronic address: andre_beerfurlan@rush.edu.
• World Neurosurg. 2019 Feb 1; 122: 29-32.

BackgroundAlthough Africa accounts for 15% of the global volume of neurosurgical disease, African hospitals and health care networks have access to <1% of the neurosurgeon community. Health care and neurosurgical care are particularly scarce in sub-Saharan Africa due to long periods of imperialism, civil war, poverty, and famines that have plagued the area.MethodsWe provide a historical perspective and initial experience of the development of neurosurgery in Angola.ResultsThe Republic of Angola has the seventh largest territory in Africa and a population of approximately 29 million people; however, it has a severe deficit of neurosurgery specialists. Between 1975 and 2012, only 5 neurosurgeons practiced in the country. We report the initial experience of the first Angolan physician who completed a full neurosurgical residency in Brazil through the Hospital das Clínicas-University of São Paulo Medical School international medical training program. The challenges of fulfilling the need for neurosurgical services and the future perspectives of building a sustainable program in Angola are discussed.ConclusionsPartnerships between developing countries and sub-Saharan African countries may be the starting point in supplying neurosurgical specialists to the countries in need.Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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