New York, November 6, 2018.In her statement at the General Debate of the Special Political and Decolonization Committee on Agenda Item 52 "Effects of Atomic Radiation", the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Attaché Rosanis Romero López said that the only way of ensuring that humanity will never again suffer the terrible impact of the use of nuclear weapons, is precisely their total elimination. She stressed the position of the island in favor of a world free of these weapons of mass destruction, a political will that was endorsed with the signing of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, being the fifth country to ratify it.
The diplomat also referred to the contributions of Cuba in the area of health care and the effects of atomic radiation.
She explained that despite the US blockade on the island, it designed the "Tarará Humanitarian Program" - which provides comprehensive medical care to patients affected by the nuclear accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine - through which more than 20,000 people, mostly children, victims of the harmful effects of atomic radiation, were rehabilitated. At the same time, she added, a sanatorium for the same purpose has been operating in the city of Evpatoria since 1998, which receives between 5,000 and 6,000 people each year and where a brigade of Cuban physicians works.
This experience, Romero López stated, has not only been relevant due to its humanitarian nature, but has also had a major scientific impact, since the information obtained has been useful for assessments of several agencies of the United Nations system, such as the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
This, she added, has also demonstrated the need to maintain and strengthen collaboration between the Scientific Committee and the different relevant bodies and institutions of the United Nations system, including the World Health Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the United Nations Environment Program.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations