Lisbon, Portugal, 8 November 2019 - His Excellency the President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, today inaugurated the state-of-the-art robotics surgical technology in the presence of His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (hereditary Spiritual Leader)  of the Shia Ismaili Muslims at Lisbon’s Curry Cabral Hospital.

Donated by the Ismaili Imamat to Lisbon’s Centro Hospitalar Universitario de Lisboa Central (Central Lisbon University Hospital Centre), the da Vinci Surgical System, is the first of its kind to be available in a National Health Service hospital in Portugal. It was presented to the hospital at a ceremony attended by His Excellency Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of the Portuguese Republic, Marta Temido, Portuguese Minister of Health, government officials, diplomats and leaders in the fields of medicine, academic research and other civil society organisations.