During a teleconference from the Bloemfontein National Hospital, the doctors, led by the head of Cuba’s medical mission in South Africa, Jorge Delgado Bustillo, expressed their willingness to continue to work for the peoples’ health wherever and whenever necessary.

The virtual meeting was attended by Victor Khanyile, director of Human Resources at the South African Ministry of Health, who expressed the gratitude of the South African people and authorities for Cuba’s collaboration.

He also expressed South Africa’s will for the Cuban medical mission to continue its work, in accordance with the will with which it was created by leaders Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela.

Cuban Ambassador Enrique Orta González recalled how during these 60 years, Cuban medical experts have provided services in the most intricate places, where other professionals do not go.

Many have had the privilege of being the first doctors in indigenous communities, where they have shared their often scarce food and medicines with their patients, he noted.

There is broad evidence that Cuba’s collaboration in the sector has not been based on geopolitical and economic interests, it has never been subjected to political conditions, or blackmail of any kind, the ambassador highlighted.

On the contrary, it has been based on the Cuban people’s vocation for solidarity and the most noble values that make up the intangible heritage of our nation, he stressed.

Cuban medical collaboration with South Africa began in February 1996, when the first group of collaborators arrived in South Africa, making an agreement between Fidel Castro and Nelson Mandela a reality.

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