Cuba has saved eight million lives worldwide

EDITOR: On Tuesday of this week, May 23, Cuba celebrated 60 years of its solidarity assistance to nations all over the world in the field of health. It began officially on May 23, 1963, when Cuba sent its first medical brigade to the newly independent country of Algeria after France withdrew its medical personnel after Algeria won the war for its independence.

Before that however, a small team of Cuban doctors had been sent to Chile in 1960 after an earthquake there.

Since then, the Cuban health solidarity has expanded tremendously. Cuban health workers have treated more than three million people and carried out more than 16,000 surgeries in 165 countries. They have ventured in the most dangerous areas where even doctors and health workers from those countries were reluctant to face danger such as in cholera outbreaks and the dreaded ebola disease in Africa. It is estimated that Cuban assistance in health has saved the lives of more than eight million persons worldwide.

Many countries, in Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean in particular are greatly indebted to Cuba for this invaluable assistance. Today, there are 22,632 Cuban health professionals working in some 57 countries. In addition to the Cuban health workers here in St Vincent and the Grenadines, seven specialists have arrived from Cuba to assist with the installation and operation of the new MRI equipment at the Modern Medical Complex in Georgetown.

This selfless Cuban help is however vilified by the United States which brands it as “human trafficking”. It must be the first case of “trafficking” saving so many lives and helping people who lack adequate access to health care!

Renwick Rose