This Monday we participated in the national commemoration for Africa Day, which was headed by the President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and ratified, once again, the solidity that distinguishes the relations between the people of Cuba and that sister land
The words of the President of the Council of State and the National Assembly of People’s Power, Esteban Lazo Hernández, as well as Nasser Mohamed Ousbo, ambassador of Djibouti and dean of the African Diplomatic Corps accredited in our country, also demonstrated the deep ties of friendship that They unite the Cuban people to that continent.
Precisely there, the beautiful history of Cuban cooperation around the world in the field of Health began a little more than six decades ago: 55 professionals arrived in Algeria in May 1963, as part of the first Medical Brigade that provided their services to other towns. In the following years, medical collaboration continued to rise, extending to more African regions.
Among the thousands of collaborators who joined to save lives on that continent, It is impossible not to recognize the work of the members of the “Henry Reeve” International Contingent of Doctors Specialized in Disaster Situations and Serious Epidemics. Several of its members accompanied the African people admirably in the fight against Ebola in 2014 and during the difficult years of the pandemic caused by COVID-19.
There are 56,144 collaborators who, over the course of all these years, have served the population of 42 African nations. Currently, 1,738 are in 28 African countries and 2,244 of them are doctors.
That continent also marked the history of Cuban teaching collaboration in the field of Health: It was in 1975, in the city of Aden, then capital of South Yemen, where the training of doctors abroad began with the advice of Cuban professors and the use of our study programs..
In addition to the training that has been carried out since then in several of those countries, ten thousand 684 African professionals have graduated from the Cuban universities of Medical Sciences and the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM). Currently, 1,281 students are in our classrooms.
Accompanying the people of Africa in protecting health is not only a duty and a commitment for Cuba, is also an honor that we assume with altruism. Let this sister land know that you can always count on us on that path.
