Cuban Medical Brigade observes eight years in Belize
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| Published on Thursday, May 17, 2007 |
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BELMOPAN, Belize: A ceremony marking the eighth anniversary of the Cuban Medical Brigade Cooperation in Belize was held on Tuesday morning.
On hand for the occasion were, the Minister of Health, Jose Coye and the Cuban Ambassador to Belize, Eugenio Martinez, Dr Maria de Lourdes, coordinator of the Cuban Medical Brigade, Dr Jorge Polanco, Belize’s Director of Health Services and various professionals from the Ministry of Health and the Cuban Medical Brigade.
In 1999, when the agreement was first signed between the governments of Belize and Cuba, the cooperation began with fifty volunteers. After eight years, today the cooperation between Belize and Cuba has netted some one hundred and sixteen Cuban medical personnel, sixty-six of them being doctors, thirty-seven nurses and twelve technicians working throughout Belize. Twenty-four villages in Belize now enjoy the permanent presence of a doctor under the Belize-Cuba Medical Brigade Cooperation.
Belize's Minister of Health, Jose Coye likened the Cuban Medical Brigade to being a silent revolution, after the present administration inherited an ill health system. Coye said that Belize owes profound gratitude to the Government and people of Cuba for helping Belize to fill the gaps in the medical field.
“One of the hallmarks of this cooperation is one of mutual respect, for you not only send your sons and daughters to Belize, you are also training our sons and daughters in the medical arts in your country”, said Coye, thanking the government and people of Cuba, on behalf of the government and people of Belize.
Ambassador Eugenio Martinez said that, despite the injustices against Cuba, Cuba does not promote hate or violence but increasingly offers cooperation and solidarity. Martinez said that Cuba began its medical assistance some forty-four years ago in the African state of Angola. “The sons of Cuba will always be at Belize’s disposal,” stated Ambassador Martinez.
During Tuesday’s ceremony, Dr Jorge Polanco did a presentation on the Epidemiological Profile in Belize where he highly commended the work that the Cuban Medical Brigade has been doing in Belize, especially in Neurosurgery and other specialist services provided to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital.
Polanco pointed out that the Cuban Medical Brigade is filling a huge gap at the KHMH, and that some of their specialist practitioners are on call around the clock. “Can you imagine being on call everyday at KHMH?” Polanco asked.
The Cuban Medical Brigade covers about fifty-four percent of the country’s population, Polanco reported. It is with their assistance that Belize has managed to come in first in the Caribbean for three consecutive years for the immunization of young children.
The ceremony ended with the presentation of a plaque from the Ministry of Health to Ambassador Martinez, commemorating the eight years of the Cuban Medical Brigade in Belize.
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