CubaMinrex. Sitio del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores de Cuba

PAHO-WHO Representative Highlights Cuba’s Solidarity and Humanism.

CUBA, June 22, 2011.- Dr. Lea Guido Lopez, concluding her mission as the representative to Havana of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), thanked Commander in Chief Fidel Castro and President Raúl Castro for her seven-year stay in the Caribbean nation.

In statements to the press, the Nicaraguan official, who performed her duties on the island since 2004, also thanked the hospitality and cooperation of Cuba's health authorities and government.

Dr. Guido praised Cuba’s international medical aid to more than 70 nations, particularly to quake-hit Haiti.  She highlighted the sacrifices made by the Cuban state in spite of limitations and lack of resources, and said that Cuba struggles day after day to protect the island’s health achievements.

The official underlined the fact that efforts are being made by the Cuban Public Health Ministry to increase the quality of services and make them more efficient and comprehensive.

She noted that the World Health Organization considers primary health services of great importance, including diagnosis, community medicine, health promotion and access to these primary services.

While receiving the Friendship Medal granted by the Cuban Council of State, upon the recommendation of the Ministry of Public Health, the representative of the UN organization said: “I’m extremely honored and I wished I could have done more and better.  I owe you so much, thank you for your humanism and solidarity, I've always tried to do the right thing, to fight poverty and to fight for a better world." (Cubaminrex-RHC)