Cuba Will Increase Medical Assistance to Chile CUBA, March 6, 2010. - Cuba will send more medical resources to Chile within the next hours at the request of authorities from the South American nation to assist victims of the devastating earthquake that hit Chile last week. The announcement was made by Elis Alberto Gonzalez Polanco, with the Cuban Ministry of Public Health, during the closing session of the 12th International Meeting of Economists on Globalization and Development Problems that ended Friday in Havana. Last Tuesday, a Cuban medical brigade comprised of 11 doctors, six nurses, four technicians and other health professionals, traveled to Chile to attend to victims of the earthquake. “Coincidently, this takes place 50 years after Cuba, for the first time, lent a helping hand to a nation in need. It was on May 21, 1960, when a group of Cuban health professionals traveled to Chile after an earthquake hit Valdivia,” Gonzalez Polanco recalled. “Since then, Cuba has provided this kind of assistance on nearly 40 occasions during natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, tsunamis, hurricanes, epidemics and volcanic eruptions,” he added. The official stressed that Cuba’s aid has gone beyond these emergency situations and he explained that the island has contributed to establishing hospital, primary and specialized assistance in nearly 100 countries. Gonzalez Polanco stated that, according to conservative estimates, Cuban health specialists have saved more than two million lives and almost 150,000 doctors, nurses, paramedics and other health personnel have made their contribution in nearly 100 countries around the world. Currently, almost 39,000 health professionals work abroad and this figure will soon increase with Chile. He also highlighted the training of thousands of youths from 28 countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa at Havana’s Latin American School of Medicine. (Cubaminrex - acn) |