CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba
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2007 MAY
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Paraguay Praises Cuban Medical Assistance CUBA, May 16, 2007.- The consul of Paraguay in Havana thanked the Cuban government for the training of Paraguayan doctors and treating 2,500 patients as part of the Operation Miracle eye-care program on the island. The diplomat, Carlos Fleitas, presided over the ceremony for the 196th anniversary of the independence of Paraguay, held at the Republica de Paraguay High School in Havana. Fleitas referred to the 900 Paraguayans attending Havana’s Latin American School of Medicine as a “white coat army”, and acknowledged the work now being done by 130 graduate doctors who have returned to their country. In statements to acn, the senior official made remarks about the excellent relations between his country and Cuba in the areas of culture and commerce, citing the example of purchases of Cuban vaccines and insecticides. Relations between Cuba and Paraguay were interrupted on December 5, 1960, but re-established on a consular basis on August 1, 1996, while full diplomatic relations were established on November 8, 1999. (Cubaminrex-ACN) Health Care in U.S. Comes in Last Place UNITED STATES, May 16, 2007..- The U.S. health care system ranks last among other major rich countries for quality, access and efficiency, according to two studies released Tuesday by a health care think tank. The studies by the Commonwealth Fund found that the United States, which has the most expensive health system in the world, underperforms consistently relative to other countries and differs most notably in the fact that Americans have no universal health insurance coverage. Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis told reporters that "the United States stands out as the only nation in these studies that does not ensure access to health care through universal coverage and promotion of a 'medical home' for patients." She added that the failure to ensure health insurance for all "and encourage stable, long-term ties between physicians and patients shows poor performance on measures of quality, access, efficiency, equity, and health outcomes." In "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: An International Update on the Comparative Performance of American Health Care," the study focused on interviews with physicians and patients in Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany, New Zealand and the United States who were asked to speak about their experiences and views on their health systems. The U.S. ranked last in most areas, including access to health care, patient safety, timeliness of care, efficiency and equity. Americans were also last in terms of whether they had a regular physician. The U.S. spends twice what the average industrialized country spends on health care -- but not reaping any of the benefits, according to the study. There are currently 45 million Americans, or 15 percent of the U.S. population, who have no health insurance. The United States is also far behind in adopting modern health information technology, which translates into spiralling costs and poor care. Britain got the top score in overall ranking among the countries in the study, followed by Germany. New Zealand and Australia tied for third followed by Canada and the United States. The second study looks into why health costs in the United States are so much higher than in eight other countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development: Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and New Zealand. The study, "Multinational Comparisons of Health Systems Data," found that even though the U.S. spends the most on publicly and privately financed health insurance, its citizens had the most potential years of life lost due to circulatory and respiratory diseases as well as diabetes. According to the Agence France Press (AFP), health care is likely to be a major issue in the 2008 U.S. presidential elections with various candidates already promising to tackle rising costs and the burden placed on big business to provide health insurance (Cubaminrex.ACN) Another flight of Operation Miracle in Suriname went to Cuba Suriname, May 16, 2007.- .In the seventh flight of Mission Miracle in Suriname, corresponding to this year 2007 travelled to Cuba 128 Surinamese patients, who will receive ophthalmologic treatment in the provinces of Havana and Cienfuegos. At the airport to see the patients were present Andres González Garrido, ambassador of Cuba in Suriname, members of the group of the Operation Miracle in Suriname and Edwien Noorzee, an official of the Ministry of Public Health and others officers of the same ministry. Between the group of patients were three children and several adults of the third age, from different districts from the interior of Suriname. . During this year and thanks to the Project Miracle 866 patients have travelled to Cuba. With the same flight, coming from Cuba 143 Surinamese patients arrived at Suriname, who were received treatment in the island. Among them 18 children returned, some of them smaller than 3 years. The mission Miracle in Suriname began on October 10, 2005 and have travelled to Cuba more than 5 thousand Surinamese people. A Cuban group, integrated by two ophthalmologists and an optometrist continue their work in all country. (Cubaminrex-Embacuba Suriname)
Anti-Cuba Motion by Aznar Followers Suffers Setback CUBA , May 9, 2007.- Spain's right-wing Partido Popular (PP), headed by former President Jose Maria Aznar, suffered a new set back to its aggressive anti-Cuba campaign when the Spanish Parliament rejected their motion condemning the Caribbean island. The article, which referred to the PP's strong links to anti-Cuban mafia-like groups based in the US, noted that similar proposals by that party have previously been rejected by the Spanish legislature. (Cubaminrex-ACN) |
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