As part of a working visit to Havana, Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS and Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, highlighted this Monday the comprehensiveness and impact of the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine and the quality of its studies and research. .
When delving into the functions of the areas of the famous center of Cuban Public Health, he shared with workers and managers about the intense teaching and scientific activity in the facility, founded 86 years ago.
He stated that at the Institute he learned about a very interesting and innovative model for the control of infectious diseases, through research, diagnosis, surveillance and teaching actions, aimed at the care and monitoring of communicable diseases, and to have better control of this type of illnesses.
«A day of much learning, inspiring and in each of the meetings I have attended, new ideas and motivations for my work have arisen».
Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
«In general terms, he stated, one of the experiences that I have with me is the determination of the people and the government of Cuba to face the difficulties and extend health services to the entire population, without any type of discrimination, as well as the commitment to share what it has with other developing countries.
The Executive Director of UNAIDS is making a working visit to Cuba until this Thursday to strengthen ties with the Greater Antilles, based on the socialization of important experiences and innovative contributions in the field of Microbiology, which allow closing gaps in complex scenarios. and challenging for health systems.
In his observations, he highlighted the relevance of advancing points of common interest for the benefit of the people, in relation to spheres such as technology transfer, scientific research and medical advances, led by talented professionals such as those of Pedro Kourí.
Precisely, he learned widely about the results of this Institute through a presentation, at the entity, by the vice minister of the sector, Dr. Carilda Peña García.. He detailed to the visitors the procedures of epidemiological surveillance, clinical diagnosis and personalized medical care, in the nearly 800 workers who face every day, with great dedication, infectious diseases, namely viral, bacterial, parasitic and fungal.
The General Director of the Institution, Doctor of Science Vivian Kourí Cardellá, also pointed out the challenges of an “institution for humanity”, as defined by our Commander in Chief Fidel Castro Ruz when he inaugurated the current headquarters in the 1970s. 90s of the last century. «The work of the medical, nursing, laboratory, technicians, graduates and microbiologists, who work in a hospital center that complements our mission of case diagnosis and surveillance of infectious diseases, is key to our management and results, where “The protocols and treatments are adjusted in conjunction with the Ministry of Public Health.”he pointed.
Intervention that motivated the recognition of the Executive Director of UNAIDS, Winnie Byanyima, who emphatically highlighted to the press that Cuba has a lot to offer in this area of confronting diseases such as Dengue, Zika, and sexually transmitted diseases, and in this sense strengthen South-South cooperation.
Photo and text:
Photos: Isabel González Pérez
M.Sc. Isabel Diaz Gonzalez
