60 Years of Cuban Medical Collaboration: Heroism and Professionalism
Havana, May 24, 2023. – The solemn ceremony, which took place at the Central Unit for Medical Cooperation, was attended by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, as well as Commander José Ramón Machado Ventura, organizer the first medical brigade and then Minister of Public Health.
More than 605,698 Cuban health workers have worked in 165 countries around the world. The figure was released Wednesday by Tania Margarita Cruz Hernández, the island’s first deputy health minister, to mark the 60th anniversary of the first medical brigade that set out for Algeria on May 23, 1963 to save lives.
The ceremony, held at the Central Unit for Medical Cooperation in Havana, was attended by the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Republic, Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, and Commander José Ramón Machado Ventura. Organizer of this first brigade and then Minister of Health.
“A dream come true of our undefeated Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz calls us to this square today. “Sixty years ago, one of the most transcendent events of the revolution, Cuban medical cooperation, emerged,” said Cruz Hernández, who took emotional stock of those years marked by events such as the creation of the Comprehensive Health Program after the passage of Hurricanes George and Mitch through Central America in 1998; also in 2003 the special mission of Venezuela, the Barrio Adentro program, led by Chávez.
The first deputy minister spoke of the “beautiful Operation Miracle that restored the sight and useful life of people from 35 countries in America and Africa: more than three million people who saw the light again with this program”; and the establishment in 2005 of the “Henry Reeve” International Medical Contingent, which specializes in dealing with disasters and major epidemics. Since then, 89 brigades have been deployed to 57 countries, he noted.
Taking stock of these six decades, Cruz Hernández referred to the More Doctors program in Brazil, which he described as another important milestone that emerged in 2013, “as part of the South-South cooperation, an experience of triangular cooperation between MINSAP, the Pan American Health Organization and the Ministry of Health of Brazil”.
He also mentioned in his words “the heroic participation of 265 Cuban professionals in the fight against the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Another example of the courage of our army in white coats, which did not hesitate to go out again to save lives.”
With the scourge of the pandemic, he recalled, “58 brigades were formed that, during those difficult years, set out for 42 countries risking their own lives, the same ones who returned to join Cuba at the most difficult moment of the epidemic .” heroic army of white coats that fought on the front lines across the country.
Today it works in 57 countries with around 22,400 employees, 54% of whom are women, whom he described as heroines.
In the emotional ceremony, the Ministry of Health paid tribute to Army General Raúl Castro Cruz, President Díaz-Canel and Rebel Army Commander José Ramón Machado Ventura for supporting the medical brigades over the years. The Central de Trabajadores de Cuba also awarded the 80th Anniversary Seal to the Central Unit for Medical Cooperation, an institution that establishes and provides the medical services that Cuba offers to other countries.
Previously, a bust of the head of state and first deputy minister was unveiled right there in homage to Henry Reeve, the young American who became a brigadier general in the Liberation Army and after whom the prestigious medical brigade was named.
(Cubaminrex Presidency)