The Hague, December 6, 2019. The Cuban Embassy in the Kingdom of the Netherlands received a group of doctors, professors and specialists from the receives doctors and specialists of the Leiden University of Medical Sciences (LUMC) and the Eramus University (MC) ( Rotterdam) who will visit Cuba to complete a program and attend an academic symposium with Havana´s University of Medical Sciences from January 21, 2020.
During the meeting held at the diplomatic seat, the characteristics, pillars, structure and main results of the Cuban public health system were presented by officials from the Embassy. The visitors also learned about the internationalist and solidarity vocation of doctors and health personnel on the island.
It was an opportune occasion to address the limitations and obstacles caused by the unilateral blockade policy imposed by the United States and its negative impact in such a sensitive area such as public health, hindering access to more leading edge medications and technologies to provide state of the art treatment for various illnesses Likewise, visitors were updated on the recent activation of Title III of the Helms Burton Act as an additional escalation of the aggressive US government policy towards our country, which is part of more than 180 measures adopted by that administration in strengthening the blockade during the last two years.
The participants were impressed by Cuba´s achievements in the health sector and were interested in learning additional information its functioning, curricula for medical schools as well as the way primary health care operates.
The fraternal meeting was a propitious occasion for them to obtain information, data and other necessary and useful details for their next trip to Cuba. As usual, in the follow-up of these exchanges they will visit the Embassy again to exchange and comment on their experience. They also intend to organize a national symposium on the lessons learned in Cuba at the University of Leiden (Medical Center).