KINGSTOWN - "When we talk about solidarity, we can't just talk about a word, we talk above all about facts," said the Minister of Public Health, José Angel Portal Miranda, when he made a statement to the press team of the Presidency about the significance that cooperation in the area of health is acquiring in the Caribbean.
This reality, he said, is something we recognize in our country and we have been feeling it during our visit to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the last few hours.
For Cuba, cooperation in the field of health is unavoidable, and as we are well aware, it is not only with this sister nation, but also with the entire Caribbean region, where "we currently have 1,441 collaborators in 13 states.
Specifically in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, he explained, we currently have 74 collaborators in various specialties. In the tours made together with our President Díaz-Canel and the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent, Ralph Gonsalves, said the Minister of Public Health, "we have been able to confirm with the population the real results of what our professionals have been doing, together with the professionals of this country".
What has been done, he reflected, shows "how much commitment, solidarity and humanity there is in the work that has been developed, which also contributes to the benefit of the health indicators of the Vincentian population".
Not only Cuba has brought medical attention to the Caribbean, but also the contribution of our small Island contributes to the training of human resources to support the medical attention of the poorest.
In this regard, Portal Miranda pointed out that to date more than 3,000 professionals from different countries have been trained as part of the collaboration program that has been in place for several years. At present, he said, we have 641 students from the Caribbean in our Universities of Medical Sciences.
On the other hand, he commented on the possibilities that exist to expand cooperation associated with the biotechnological and pharmaceutical industry. This is an issue, he said, that "we want to take now to CARICOM, because there is already an open path and Cuba has an experience that we want to share with the Caribbean countries".
Sharing what we have, that is precisely what the Greater Antilles does with the world. And that, the Minister of Public Health reflected, is the result of the legacy of the Commander-in-Chief, which has been continued by the Army General and President Díaz-Canel.
"We have been working with the Caribbean for many years," he added. There are many stories of how much progress has been made in these relations and how much they mean for these peoples, Portal Miranda stressed, and then acknowledged that the Modern Medical and Diagnostic Center, visited this Sunday in Georgetown, is a great example of this, and had its initial ideas in the efforts of the Commander-in-Chief and the Vincentian Prime Minister.
The results that can be seen here, he stressed, are the result of the high quality services that our professionals provide to the Vincentian population. "That is a source of pride for us, and it is also a source of pride for our Homeland."
Of gratitude and respect then spoke the Minister of Public Health, who, in the context of the commemoration of the Latin American Medicine Day celebrated this December 3, sent congratulations to the Health workers, "to those who are in Cuba and also to those who are on mission abroad."
These have been very difficult years, with many complexities, he considered, and our professionals have not stopped fighting for the lives of Cubans and also of other peoples of the world.