Angola–Cuba Declaration of 1984 on 11 November 1975, with Agostinho Neto becoming the first president, though the civil war continued. José Eduardo Dos Santos became the first elected President of Angola from the MPLA-LT and continued to get the support of Cuba. Angola was a colony of Portugal for more than 400 years from the 15th century. The demand for independence in Angola picked up momentum during the early 1950s. The Portuguese régime, refused to accede to the demands for independence, provoking an armed conflict that started in 1961 when freedom fighters attacked both white and black civilians in cross-border operations in northeastern Angola,
Health in Angola Health in Angola Health in Angola is rated among the worst in the world. Only a fraction of the population receives even rudimentary medical attention. From 1975 to 1992, there were 300,000 civil war-related deaths. The overall death rate was estimated at 240 per 1,000 in 2002. The HIV/AIDS prevalence was 3.90 per 100 adults in 2003. As of 2004, there were approximately 240,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. There were an estimated 521,000 deaths from AIDS in 2003. USAID has reported that the Angolan government has not had much success in developing an effective health care system