Considered one of the leading national experts in Public Health, he has headed the Directorate-General of Health for the last 12 years. He has been the new president of the Portuguese Red Cross since last October.
At the beginning of his 44-year career in the civil service, he was a healthcare representative in the Alentejo. He spent 11 years working for the World Health Organisation (WHO) and was a consultant in missions in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America. He was head of the Health Services Development project in Guinea-Bissau and coordinator of the WHO World AIDS programme in Southern Africa.
Returning to his national career, he was approved as Head of the Public Health Service, and in 2001 appointed Deputy Director-General of Health. In 2005, he became the Head of the Directorate-General of Health, which he left in 2017 when he reached the age limit. He represented Portugal on the Permanent Committee of WHO Europe between 2014 and 2017.
He is a member of the Advisory Board at the Institute of Tropical Scientific Research and the Advisory Board of the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and is also linked to the Portuguese Virology Society and several associations in the healthcare area.
He is a professor at the National School of Public Health and author of several books. He was made Grand Officer of the Order of Prince Henry in 2006.