Cuba and Chicago advance project of cooperation on healthcare

On September 8, a symposium was held in the University Club of Chicago to exchange innovative approaches that may contribute to the decrease of infant mortality rate. Cuba was represented in this event by the experts José Armando Arronte, Sonia González, Berta Bello and Némesis Pérez; who alongside the Ambassador of Cuba to the United States, José Ramón Cabañas Rodríguez, talked about the achievements of our country in this field.

 

In their speech to the symposium, the Cuban participants stressed that Cuba’s infant mortality rate in 2016 was 4.3 per 1000 live birth, statistics that have remained below 5 in the past consecutive 8 years. They also reaffirmed the negative impact that the blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States for over 55 years has on the health sector. 

 

This symposium, organized by the University of Illinois in Chicago (UIC), is part of a collaboration project between the US University and the Cuban Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), with the participation of four Cuban experts. 

 

These experts work alongside their US peers in the study of risk factors that influence on the mother-infant mortality rate in vulnerable and low-income communities in Chicago, with the aim of devising strategies to reduce the incidence of that health indicator. 

 

The experts, who arrived in Chicago last august, offered advice to the US authorities based on the Cuban model of maternal and child health care and exchanged experience and expertise on the functioning and good practices of the health systems of both countries. 

 

With regard to this Project, Dr. Robert A. Winn, Associate Vice Chancellor for community based practice and Director of the University of Illinois Cancer Center, said that the collaboration in the area of health between Cuba and the United States could not only be beneficial for our countries, but for other nations of the world as well.