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Saturday,
March 06, 2010
(20:30 hrs) |
 Cuba
Will Increase Medical Assistance to Chile
HAVANA, Cuba-. Cuba will send more medical resources to Chile
within the next hours at the request of authorities from the South
American nation to assist victims of the devastating earthquake that
hit
Chile last week.
The announcement was made by Elis Alberto Gonzalez Polanco, with the
Cuban Ministry of Public Health, during the closing session of the
12th
International Meeting of Economists on Globalization and Development
Problems that ended Friday in Havana.
Last Tuesday,
a Cuban medical brigade comprised of 11 doctors, six
nurses, four technicians and other health professionals, traveled to
Chile
to attend to victims of the earthquake.
“Coincidently, this takes place 50 years after Cuba, for the first
time, lent a helping hand to a nation in need. It was on May 21,
1960,
when a group of Cuban health professionals traveled to Chile after
an
earthquake hit Valdivia,” Gonzalez Polanco recalled.
“Since then,
Cuba has provided this kind of assistance on nearly 40
occasions during natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods,
tsunamis,
hurricanes, epidemics and volcanic eruptions,” he added.
The official
stressed that Cuba’s aid has gone beyond these emergency
situations and he explained that the island has contributed to
establishing hospital, primary and specialized assistance in nearly
100
countries.
Gonzalez
Polanco stated that, according to conservative estimates,
Cuban health specialists have saved more than two million lives and
almost
150,000 doctors, nurses, paramedics and other health personnel have
made
their contribution in nearly 100 countries around the world.
Currently,
almost 39,000 health professionals work abroad and this figure will
soon
increase with Chile.
He also
highlighted the training of thousands of youths from 28
countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa at Havana’s Latin
American
School of Medicine.
Source:
Cuban News Agency
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