CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

Cuba and the Ukraine Sign Medical Cooperation Accord

CUBA, April 2, 2010. Cuba, the Ukraine and the Chernobyl International Fund signed on Friday in this capital a medical cooperation accord, which will give continuity to the medical treatment of children from that nation suffering from health problems as a consequence of the 1986 nuclear accident.

The document was signed by Cuban Public Health Minister José Ramon Balaguer; Vasili Lazoryshynets, deputy minister from the Ukraine in this sector; and Alexander Bozhko, president of the aforementioned Fund.

Lazoryshynets reiterated the appreciation of Ukrainian President Victor Yanukovic to the Cuban government and people for the free medical treatment given to over 23,000 children throughout the 20 years of existence of this program.

After declaring himself hopeful about the continuity of bilateral friendship and cooperation, he presented Balaguer with the Panteleimon Cross, the highest distinction given by his country’s Public Health Ministry.

Balaguer, also a Politburo member of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party, recalled that the island’s internationalism is based on the ideas of Cuba’s National Hero Jose Marti.

Following an initiative by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, on March 29, 1990, amid the crisis Cuba was facing due to the collapse of the socialist bloc, the first 139 children arrived to the island, a figure that, 20 years later, totals over 25,000 patients.

On the occasion of this important date, a scientific program that includes keynote lectures, symposia, workshops, the presentation of papers and a meeting at Villa Tarara Amistad, where the Ukrainian children have received and continue receiving medical treatment, has been taking place since Monday. (Cubaminrex- ACN)

 

 

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