Within the framework of the 1st Congress of Graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) that is taking place in Havana, Portal noted that Cuba 2,787 research projects and 82 clinical trials.
“Science was the guiding thread of the actions implemented in Cuba to confront the COVID-19 pandemic and currently remains a key and essential factor in our health system,” the minister added.
He pointed out that 22 vaccines are administered in Cuba, 11 of which are made in the country, and they have allowed eradicating six diseases and two serious clinical forms. Three of those vaccines were created against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes Covid-19.
Referring to other achievements in the health system, Portal pointed out that Cuba was acknowledged in 2015 as the first country in the world to be validaded by the World Health Organization (WHO) for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.
The minister stressed that each of these milestones can be consolidated thanks to the integration of the health system, which consists of 11,315 doctor’s offices, 149 hospitals, 153 maternity homes and 12 research institutions.
In addition, there are 1,229 dental services and 301 nursing homes in Cuba.
More than 400,000 medical experts work in those institutions, including 80,000 doctors, accounting for an average of eight physicians per every 1,000 inhabitants, the minister pointed out.
Regarding the importance of ELAM, he stressed that it remains a bastion of unity and international cooperation promoted by Cuba, where high-quality medical teaching prevails thanks to its more than 200 professors, a prestige endorsed by the highest rating awarded by the University Union of Latin America and the Caribbean.
“ELAM has graduated and will continue to graduate doctors who will save humanity from so much barbarism. Doctors and not bombs, as the leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, said,” Portal noted.
The 1st International Congress of ELAM Graduates is taking place at Havana’s Conventions Center and is an opportunity to address issues such as primary health care, emergencies, natural disasters and pedagogy in Higher Medical Education.
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