“Professor Dr. Paulo Mendo passed away early this morning at Hospital de Santo António,” announced José Barros, the hospital’s clinical director, in a written message.
Adalberto Paulo da Fonseca Mendo, born on October 3, 1932, in Lisbon to a Transmontano engineer father and a mother from Amarante, enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto in 1949, at that time affiliated with Hospital de Santo António, aligning himself with the Youth Democratic Unity Movement (MUD Juvenil).
Paulo Mendo briefly studied Fine Arts before returning to Medicine, and he was detained by PIDE for two and a half months along with other members of academic associations.
He graduated in Medicine and joined the newly inaugurated Hospital Escolar de São João in Porto.
“Fascinated by neuroscientist Corino de Andrade, he joined Hospital de Santo António, where he was directed towards Neurosurgery. Necessity led him to improvise radiological techniques applied to the nervous system, ultimately establishing the specialty of Neuroradiology in Portugal and globally, with the help of José de Almeida Pinto,” José Barros highlighted.
In the early 1960s, Mendo moved to Rabat, Morocco, opposing the colonial war, where he founded Morocco’s first Neurosurgery Service with Mário Leão Ramos. He returned to Portugal and Hospital de Santo António in August 1974, joining the Workers’ Commission.
As a politically republican and secular figure, Mendo transitioned from Marxism to reformism and subsequently to social democracy.
His roles included being director of the Neuroradiology Service (1976-2000), director of Hospital de Santo António (1988-1993), president of the Board of Directors of the Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Porto (1984-1988), Secretary of State for Health (under the governments of Mário Soares from 1976-1977 and Pinto Balsemão from 1981-1983), and Minister of Health (under the government of Aníbal Cavaco Silva from 1993-1995).
According to José Barros, Mendo “actively collaborated” in the drafting of Decree-Law 310/82, which regulated medical careers, retiring in 2000. In 2015, he presided over the celebrations of 75 years of Neurology and Neurosciences in Northern Portugal (NeuroPorto.75).
Paulo Mendo remained vocal in health matters, notably warning against the bureaucratization and chronic underfunding of the National Health Service (SNS).
