BLOEMFONTEIN (South Africa), May 22 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) — The Cuban medical brigades in South Africa, Eswatini, and Lesotho celebrated the 60th anniversary of Cuba’s internationalist collaboration in the health sector on Saturday.
During a teleconference from the Bloemfontein National Hospital, the doctors, led by the head of Cuba’s medical mission in South Africa, Jorge Delgado Bustillo, expressed their willingness to continue to work for the peoples’ health wherever and whenever necessary.
The virtual meeting was attended by Victor Khanyile, director of Human Resources at the South African Ministry of Health, who expressed the gratitude of the South African people and authorities for Cuba’s collaboration.
He also expressed South Africa’s will for the Cuban medical mission to continue its work, in accordance with the will with which it was created by leaders Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela.
Cuban Ambassador Enrique Orta González recalled how during these 60 years, Cuban medical experts have provided services in the most intricate places, where other professionals do not go.
Many have had the privilege of being the first doctors in indigenous communities, where they have shared their often scarce food and medicines with their patients, he noted.
There is broad evidence that Cuba’s collaboration in the sector has not been based on geopolitical and economic interests, it has never been subjected to political conditions, or blackmail of any kind, the ambassador highlighted.
On the contrary, it has been based on the Cuban people’s vocation for solidarity and the most noble values that make up the intangible heritage of our nation, he stressed.
Cuban medical collaboration with South Africa began in February 1996, when the first group of collaborators arrived in South Africa, making an agreement between Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela a reality.
ACCRA (Ghana): Since the Cuban medical collaboration in Ghana started off back in 1983, we´ve ever received an unfavorable view about any doctor and I am proud of that, according to Dr. Hafez Adam Taher, director of External Cooperation at Ghana´s Health Ministry.
Dr. Taher, a doctor trained in Cuba, heaped praise on Cuban specialists´ professionalism levels serving at Ghanaian hospitals. “This is what makes me keep my head up, because I really know what you are currently doing at hospitals”.
Speaking at the commemorative ceremony held at the Cuban embassy in Accra for the 60th anniversary of Cuban medical collaboration around the globe, Dr. Taher informed they´re working on increasing the number of medical collaborators with the support of other Ghanaian institutions.
Dr. Taher thanked the Cuban government, embassy and the medical brigade for doctors´ 40-year work in Ghana, as well as the opportunity to train professionals in Cuba, a figure that currently amounts to nearly 300. The Cuban Ambassador to Ghana Anette Chao García stressed the significance of unity, continuing to serve despite difficulties, and that the collaboration also includes health technicians and the Labiofam Business Group with its antimalarial products.
Dr. Idael Cabrera Morales, on behalf of the medical brigade, reaffirmed the Cuban government and people commitment to fulfill the mission entrusted to them.
“Today is a day of gratitude for the opportunity we have had to be part of this great army of white coats that is making history in the five continents. The whole world knows the value and commitment of our professionals, and we are grateful for that,” Morales stated. — NNN-PRENSA LATINA
