The signing ceremony took place during the 60th session of the PAHO Directing Council, which is being held in Washington, the Cuban Public Health Ministry informed.

According to Minister Portal, the agreement ‘is an extremely important tool to guide technical cooperation actions between the two parties over the next five years,’ and provides full support to the decision to continue on the path of collaboration.

The text is the result of extensive teamwork, which evaluated national healthcare priorities, the cooperation strategies of the Pan-American Health Organization and the World Health Organization (WHO), and the 2030 Agenda, with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the minister added.

The lines of work contained in the document reinforce cooperation in both directions and open new paths for its strengthening, taking into account the current economic, demographic and social situation in Cuba and its inevitable impact on the health of the population, he pointed out.

The existence in Cuba of eight WHO/PAHO collaborating centers is another evidence of the diversity of potentialities of our work, not only for Cuba’s benefit, but also for the region and the world, Portal stressed.

Amid the most complex circumstances, ‘Cuba ratifies its commitment and willingness to continue to consolidate and expand its ties with PAHO, as well as to work tirelessly to defend health and life anywhere on the planet,’ Portal noted.

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