Angola

There is no evidence of a nationally mandated dementia cognitive screening instrument. Neurologists, psychiatrists and trained physicians can use conventional tools such as the MMSE, MoCA or similar bedside cognitive assessments, but no evidence was found of universal standardized use across the national public system. Formal neuropsychological assessment is likely to be concentrated in larger hospitals and specialist centres. Angola is expanding specialist medical training. The 2025 medical internship framework formally includes specialties such as Neurology, Geriatrics and Psychiatry, which may gradually strengthen the country’s capacity to assess cognitive disorders.

CT and MRI are available in Angola, particularly at tertiary hospitals and private diagnostic centres. The Cardeal Dom Alexandre do Nascimento hospital includes both an Imaging Service and a Nuclear Medicine Service within its formal structure. The same hospital has undergone major modernization and is equipped for high-complexity neurological and neurosurgical care, serving referred patients from several provinces. This means structural neuroimaging needed for dementia differential diagnosis is technically available. However, CT and MRI should not be described as universally or easily accessible nationwide because availability is concentrated in major urban and referral centres.

There is no evidence that APOE testing or familial Alzheimer genetic testing is routinely incorporated into dementia diagnosis in Angola. Testing for APP, PSEN1 or PSEN2 mutations would therefore be exceptional and would most likely occur through research, private specialist arrangements or external referral. Routine genetic testing should not currently be considered part of Angola’s standard dementia pathway.

There is no evidence that CSF amyloid-β/tau testing, plasma phosphorylated-tau assays, amyloid PET or tau PET are routinely used in clinical dementia diagnosis in Angola. The existence of nuclear medicine infrastructure at tertiary hospitals shows broader technical capacity, but it does not demonstrate routine amyloid PET availability. The Ministry of Health’s current neuroscience programme is focused primarily on strengthening broader neurology and neurophysiology capacity, including care for Alzheimer’s disease. Advanced molecular dementia diagnostics therefore remain very limited and non-routine.

Angola does not appear to have a nationwide network of dedicated memory clinics or dementia centres, with dementia assessment and management instead incorporated into general neurology, psychiatry, internal medicine and primary healthcare services. More complex neurological assessment is available at major referral hospitals, including the Complexo Hospitalar Cardeal Dom Alexandre do Nascimento in Luanda, whose services include neurology, neurosurgery, internal medicine, clinical psychology, diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine and advanced laboratory diagnostics. Recent investment and modernization have expanded the hospital’s capacity to manage complex neurological and other specialist conditions.

Dementia may also be managed through psychiatric and mental-health services, particularly when behavioural or psychological symptoms are present. Notably, official Angolan health statistics include “Dementia of Alzheimer’s Disease” among conditions recorded by mental-health services, although the relatively small number of reported cases compared with expected population prevalence suggests that many cases may remain undiagnosed or unrecorded.

Long-term social care for people with dementia is largely embedded within Angola’s broader services for older and vulnerable people rather than provided through dementia-specific facilities. The Ministry of Social Action, Family and Women’s Promotion (MASFAMU) oversees social-protection programmes for older people, including residential provision. Government reporting has identified 18 residential homes for older people across 11 provinces, accommodating approximately 852 residents at the time of reporting. These institutions are not specifically designed as dementia-care facilities, but they form part of the limited formal long-term-care infrastructure potentially available to older people experiencing cognitive and functional impairment. Consequently, Angola’s dementia-care capacity remains largely integrated into general medical, psychiatric and social-care structures rather than organised around specialised dementia services.

Public-sector healthcare provides subsidized medical care, but WHO identifies high out-of-pocket expenditure and inadequate financial protection as important continuing problems.1 Dementia creates particularly high household costs because treatment extends beyond medical consultations and medicines to include supervision, transport, household assistance and potentially institutional care Government programmes do provide some support to vulnerable older people MASFAMU reports programmes providing food support, housing assistance, social assistance and community-based support to older people. However, Angola has no comprehensive statutory dementia-specific long-term-care entitlement comparable with the long-term-care insurance systems found in some European countries Families therefore remain responsible for much of the direct and indirect cost of long-term dementia care.

Family members appear to provide the majority of day-to-day dementia care in Angola, within a social-care model that places considerable emphasis on supporting older people within their families and communities. No nationwide dementia-specific caregiver support system or universal entitlement to regular respite care, dementia counselling or dedicated caregiver allowances was identified. Government support is instead delivered through broader older-person and social-protection programmes administered by the Ministry of Social Action, Family and Women’s Promotion (MASFAMU). Initiatives such as “Idoso no Lar” and “Idoso na Comunidade” aim to strengthen protection and assistance for older people in residential and community settings, while vulnerable older adults may also receive food and other forms of social assistance.

Some additional support is provided through civil-society organisations. The Associação de Amizade e Solidariedade para com a Terceira Idade (AASTI) works more broadly with older people and provides social and psychological assistance, with its activities receiving support from MASFAMU. However, AASTI is not specifically focused on dementia or dementia caregivers.2 Overall, the absence of a well-developed national network of Alzheimer’s or dementia-specific organisations means that families have relatively limited access to specialized caregiver education, counselling, peer-support groups and respite services. Dementia caregiving therefore remains largely embedded within informal family care and Angola’s broader older-person social-support system, rather than being supported by a dedicated dementia-caregiver infrastructure.

Angola does not appear to have a dedicated National Dementia Strategy or Alzheimer Action Plan, with dementia instead addressed indirectly through broader policies covering primary healthcare, neurological and mental-health care, non-communicable diseases (NCDs), ageing, social protection and general health-system strengthening. The WHO Angola Country Cooperation Strategy 2023–2027 prioritizes strengthening primary healthcare, improving integrated and people-centred services across the life course, addressing NCDs and improving the overall resilience and capacity of the health system. These priorities are relevant to dementia prevention, diagnosis and management, particularly through improved primary and specialist care, but the strategy does not establish a dementia-specific national framework, targets or standardized care pathway.

Dementia is also indirectly covered by Angola’s broader policies concerning older people and social protection. The country has established a National Policy for Older Persons, while the Ministry of Social Action, Family and Women’s Promotion (MASFAMU) has reported work on a National Strategy for the Implementation of the Older Person Policy, alongside programmes intended to strengthen protection, social inclusion and assistance for older and vulnerable people. These measures provide a relevant policy foundation for dementia because they address ageing, dependency, family and community support and the social needs of older adults. However, they do not substitute for a comprehensive dementia strategy establishing specific objectives for early detection and diagnosis, clinical standards and referral pathways, access to treatment, caregiver support, professional training, epidemiological surveillance, public awareness and dementia research.

Current reform in Angola remains focused primarily on broader health-system modernization and progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC) rather than the development of a dedicated dementia strategy. Key priorities include strengthening primary healthcare, expanding and training the health workforce, improving health-information systems, and reinforcing pharmaceutical regulation and access to essential medicines. These reforms could indirectly improve dementia care by increasing opportunities for earlier detection, referral and continuity of care, but they are designed to strengthen the health system as a whole rather than establish dementia-specific services or standards.

At the same time, there are indications of increasing investment in neurological and specialist capacity relevant to dementia. In 2025, the Ministry of Health (MINSA) explicitly included Alzheimer’s disease among the neurological conditions addressed through a technical neuroscience capacity-building initiative, alongside other neurological disorders.2Angola is also formalizing postgraduate specialist training through its medical internship framework, including Neurology, Geriatrics and Psychiatry, all of which are important disciplines for dementia diagnosis and management.3These developments should gradually strengthen the professional capacity available for cognitive assessment and dementia care; however, no announced standalone national dementia strategy or Alzheimer action plan was identified as of September 2026.

National Neuroscience Capacity-Building Initiative: Angola’s Ministry of Health (MINSA) is strengthening national technical and professional capacity in the neurosciences, with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy and stroke explicitly identified among the neurological conditions of interest. In 2025, this included cooperation with Professor Fernando Cendes of the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), focusing on knowledge exchange, professional training and development of diagnostic and clinical capacity. Although this is not a dementia-specific programme, the explicit inclusion of Alzheimer’s disease represents an important step toward improving national expertise in dementia diagnosis and management.

Expansion of Specialist Medical Training: Angola is simultaneously expanding and formalizing its specialist medical workforce through the national medical internship framework. The framework covers disciplines directly relevant to dementia care, including Neurology, Geriatrics and Psychiatry, alongside diagnostic and supporting specialties such as radiology/imaging and laboratory medicine. Increasing the number and geographical distribution of trained specialists could gradually improve access to cognitive assessment, differential diagnosis, management of behavioural and psychological symptoms and follow-up of people with dementia, although development of this workforce will require sustained investment over time.

Modernized Tertiary Neurological Infrastructure: Investment in major referral hospitals is also increasing Angola’s capacity to investigate and manage complex neurological conditions. The Complexo Hospitalar Cardeal Dom Alexandre do Nascimento brings together neurology with neurosurgery, diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine, clinical psychology, internal medicine and advanced laboratory services. This multidisciplinary infrastructure is relevant to dementia because complex cognitive disorders may require neurological examination, structural imaging, laboratory investigation and assessment of psychiatric or psychological symptoms. However, such advanced capacity remains part of tertiary specialist care rather than a nationwide network of dedicated memory clinics.

Health Information System Modernization: Angola is working with WHO to strengthen health-information systems, data collection and national capacity to use health information for planning and decision-making. Better routine health data could be particularly important for dementia, where limited epidemiological information and under-recording make it difficult to estimate service needs accurately. Stronger information systems could eventually support better monitoring of neurological and age-related conditions, allocation of resources and development of evidence-based dementia policies, although a dedicated national dementia registry has not been identified.

Healthy Ageing Policy Development: Population ageing is receiving greater attention within Angola’s demographic and social-policy agenda. The National Statistics Institute (INE) has produced thematic analysis of the country’s older population in the context of the United Nations Decade of Healthy Ageing (2021–2030), helping to build a stronger evidence base on the demographic and socioeconomic circumstances of older Angolans.5While this work is not dementia-specific, greater policy attention to healthy ageing, functional ability, dependency and the needs of older people provides an important foundation for the future integration of dementia prevention, diagnosis, long-term care and caregiver support into national ageing policy.