New York, November 28, 2018. The Director of International Relations of the Ministry of Public Health of Cuba (MINSAP, Spanish abbreviation), Dr. Néstor Marimón, attended today the opening ceremony of the Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo 2018 to be held at the United Nations between November 28 and 30.
Cuba has been invited to participate actively in several activities of the Global Exhibition, for its health indicators recognized worldwide and by the UN agencies, including infant mortality rate of 4.0 per 1,000 live births; the country with the highest number of physicians per inhabitant, the elimination of 14 infectious diseases, while others no longer constitute health problems; and vaccination of Cuban children against 13 diseases, being one of the programs with the greatest coverage worldwide.
These achievements have been attained thanks to the political will of the Cuban State, which guarantees a health system with universal and free coverage for all its citizens. Only in 2018, the country allocated 27% of its budget to public health; despite the strengthening of the criminal economic, commercial and financial blockade of the United States, which constitutes a massive, flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of the Cuban people.
In the field of South-South Cooperation, the Caribbean island also advocates the principle of sharing its modest resources with other nations in need. Proof of this are the 49,000 Cuban collaborators who provide medical care in 63 countries; the more than 1.5 billion patients treated worldwide; the more than 6 million lives saved; the 2,900,000 babies born thanks to Cuban physicians; the more than 10 million surgeries performed; and the almost 3 million people who have regained their eyesight thanks to the "Operation Miracle" program, developed jointly with the member countries of ALBA.
In 2014, and together with the World Health Organization, Cuba supported the fight against the Ebola virus in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone with health professionals.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations