In the final hours of his stay in this Swiss city, the Cuban Minister of Public Health held productive bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Angola, Dr. S. Lutucuta; from Gambia, Dr. A.L. Samateh; from Qatar, Mansour bin Ebrahim Al Mahmoud; from Egypt, Prof. Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar; from Kuwait, Dr. Ahmad Al-Awadhi; from Brazil, Alexandre Padilha; from Equatorial Guinea, Mitoha Ondo'o Ayecaba; from Saudi Arabia, Fahad Abdulrahman Al Jalajel; from Bahamas, Dr. Michael Darville; and from Grenada, P. Telesford.
This was also followed by discussions with Mr. Lei Haichao, Minister in charge of the National Health Commission of China; Dr. Fernando Boyd Galindo, Minister of Health of Panama; Khumbize K. Chiponda, MP, Minister of Health and Population of Malawi; Pakistan's Minister of State for National Health Services, Regulation, and Coordination; and Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana, Minister of Health of Rwanda.
During his stay here, the representative of the Greater Antilles also held talks with the Ministers of Health of Palestine, Dr. Mohammed Abu Ramadan ; of Haiti, Dr. Bertrand Sinal; of Dominica, Hon. Cassani Laville; of Namibia, Dr. Esperance Livindao; and of Cape Verde, Dr. Jorge Figueiredo . He also spoke with the Deputy Ministers of Health of Venezuela, Jesús Miguel Osteicochea Suarce, and of Russia, Dr. O. Salagay, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health of Jamaica, E. Greene. He also held talks with the Head of the Azerbaijani delegation, Vugar Mammadov, Director of International Cooperation for Health.
As part of his bilateral agenda, he also met with the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus ; the Director-General of the Pan American Health Organization, Dr. Jarbas Barbosa; the Assistant Director-General of the Pan American Health Organization, Dr. Rhonda Sealey-Thomas; the Director-General of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Pierre Krahenbuhl; and the Secretary-General of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Jagan Chapagaia; Dr. Tereza Kasaeva, Director of the WHO Global Programme on Tuberculosis and Lung Health; and Margaret Chang, former Director-General of the WHO.
Likewise, the Cuban Minister of Public Health held talks with executives from the GAVI Vaccine Fund and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
Portal Miranda delivered a speech during the Assembly's general debate and also spoke after the adoption of the Agreement on Pandemic Prevention, Response, and Recovery. He also shared Cuba's experiences at the side event on " New Perspectives for a World Without Tuberculosis" and gave a detailed presentation at the side event organized by Cuba on the importance of South-South Cooperation in the face of current global health challenges, and the contributions of the collaboration and solidarity offered by Cuba to many nations around the world.
The Cuban president signed memoranda of understanding with his counterparts from Indonesia, Budi Gunadi Sadikin, and from the Sultanate of Oman, Dr. Hilal bin Ali bin Hilal Al Sabti, aimed at strengthening and expanding health cooperation with those nations.
(Cubaminrex-Permanent Mission of Cuba in Geneva)