Letter from Guinea Bissau: follow up to the article by Binder et al. and accompanying articles.

our NPHI creation effort started in earnest. We are particularly grateful to the staff of FIOCRUZ, the NPHI in Brazil, and part of a sub-network of Portuguese-speaking NPHIs, for their assistance. the support of the Instituto de Higiene e Medicina Tropical of Portugal, the Centro de Medicina Tropical has been created and inaugurated by the President of Guinea Bissau and the Prime Minister of Portugal (today's President of Portugal). The last element of the public health system to be created was the National School of Public Health in 1997. These essential elements of a strong public health system conduct field epidemiology, medical research, and training of health personnel. However, these were separate entities with their own budgets, priorities, and infrastructures. These