Each year more than 50 people get diagnosed with cancer or kidney-related diseases in Cape Verde. At present Cape Verde cannot provide these patients with a suitable treatment because of a lack of financial means and insufficient medical infrastructure. Therefore Portugal has offered to take into treatment a limited number of Capeverdean patients each year in its own hospitals. The Portuguese government pays for all the medical expenses while the Capeverdean government takes care of all other costs. This involves mainly the transport costs from Cape Verde to Portugal and the housing costs in Lisbon. Unfortunately it has turned out that the Capeverdean government has had some trouble in fulfilling these financial obligations. An increasing number of patients that is brought to Portugal has made matters worse in this regard. This means that Capeverdian patients residing in Portugal, according to estimations a number of over 300, are at times totally dependent on their own financial reserves to pay for their daily expenses and their housing.

Portugal only allows a limited number of patients to its hospitals each year. This means that a selection has to take place in Cape Verde. Those who don't get selectedcan either choose to stay on in Cape Verde, which would mean a certain death without proper treatment. Or rather they can decide to make the journey to Portugal on their own and pay themselves for the necessary treatment in Lisbon. Without insurance or financial savings these people are dependent on all the help they can get from family members who live in Portugal or other foreign countries. When the medical treatment is a long term affair it often happens that these patients, no matter how bad their health situation is, are forced to take a job in Portugal to take care of all their expenses. These people are the worst off. It is known that in extreme cases some patients can't afford to pay for housing and therefore are forced to live on the streets. Also some patients are known to end up as prostitutes just to pay for their medical treatment.

The evacuation of Capeverdean patients to Portugal doesn't only have a great effect on the patients themselves but also on family members and loved ones left behind in Cape Verde. Maintaining contact often proves difficult. This increases the insecurities back home about how well the treatment is proceeding in Portugal. On the other hand the often long separation from their family and homeland has a negative effect on the mental state of patients. Worrying about family members left behind is especially painful for patients who used to be the main source of income for their loved ones.