Mrs. Mavis Hawa Koomson, Minister for Special Development Initiatives, and Member of Parliament for the Awutu Senya East constituency (Central region) received the Ambassador of Cuba to Ghana, Pedro Luis Despaigne González, at the headquarters of the Ministry.
The Minister, in her words of welcome to the Cuban Ambassador, highlighted the longstanding historical relationship between Cuba and Ghana, and recognized the positive impact on health indicators in Ghana of the presence of Cuban doctors, whose first group arrived in 1983.
The Ambassador of Cuba, after thanking the reception, agreed with the Minister about the historical nature of the bilateral relations, which will arrive at its 60th anniversary in 2019. On the links between both peoples, the Cuban diplomat addressed the meaning of Africa in the formation of the Cuban Nation and remembered that about 3,000 young Ghanaians have been trained in Cuba, as professionals in different specialties.
The Minister and the Ambassador exchanged ideas about the expansion of bilateral cooperation, especially in those strategic programs that are the focus of that Ministry, created recently by President Nana Akufo-Addo. Among the programs that coordinate the Ministry for Special Development Initiatives are: the so call “one village, one dam”; “one district, one warehouse”, and the creation of chip compounds, like the health community centers.
The Ambassador of Cuba, who explained the functioning of the National Health System in Cuba, and the interrelation between its different factors, reiterated the will to continue working to strengthen relations with Ghana. He also informed that in 2019, more than 200 young Ghanaians will conclude their medical studies in Cuba. That massive graduation will coincide with the year of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
In the positive In the positive exchange, where they talked about common cultural elements between Cuba and Ghana were also the Director General of the Ministry, Mr. Kwesi Armo-Himbson, and the advisers of the Minister, Mr. Baffour Awwauah and Mr. Moses Appuh. The First Secretary of the Embassy of Cuba, Julio César Sánchez was at the meeting.