[NYTr] Cuban Medical Aid in Angola, Honduras Highlighted
 
Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2007 13:31:15 -0500 (CDT)


Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN)
http://ainch.ain.cu/mailman/listinfo/ingles

Cuban Doctors Work in Angola Highlighted

Havana, Sept 7 (acn) Dozens of Cuban doctors have carried out 15,000 
consultations and some 700 surgical operations since their arrival in 
Angola two months ago, said Cuban ambassador in Luanda, Pedro Ross Leal.

During a meeting with Angolan president, Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, the 
Cuban diplomat said that the island is willing to help Angola with its 
experience in the process of reconstruction being undertaken throughout 
that country, reports PL news agency.

Ross and Dos Santos also talked about the close bonds of cooperation 
established between their countries. The meeting was widely covered by 
the local media.

                               ***

uban Doctors Make an Impact on Honduras Health Levels

Havana, sept 7 (acn) More than 1.6 million Hondurans, most of them 
living inaccessible parts of the country, have benefited from the 
medical assistance provided by the Cuban Medical Brigades that arrived 
in the nation in November, 1998.

The brigades are currently made up by 280 Cuban doctors, who first came 
to Honduras after hurricane Mitch swept the country. The have given 
more than 14 million consultations, and provided medical tests to 
around 6 million minors under 15 years old.

Cuban ambassador, Juan Carlos Hernandez, gave a press conference about 
the impact of the Cuban medical collaboration in that nation since 1999 
up to this year, 2007.

A Granma report says in the Honduran communities where the Cuban 
doctors were providing assistance, the infant mortality rate has fallen 
to 10 deaths per 1 000 live births, lower that in the rest of the 
country, where the figure is 37 per 1 000 live births, according to 
estimates of the health ministry.

Likewise, the diplomat said up to July, 2007, the maternal mortality 
rate in labor is kept at zero thanks to the Cuban doctors. He went on 
to say since their arrival in Honduras, the medical brigade has saved 
the lives of nearly 232,000 people, and they have performed more than 
350,000 operations, among other services, all of them free of charge.

The Cuban doctors, along with experts in other areas such as agronomy, 
and education, are located in all 18 departments of Honduras, including 
the town of Gracias a Dios (Thank God), where the Tawacas indigenous 
people, an ethnic group that is on the brink of extinction, receive 
medical assistance, said Hernandez.

Cubans are also collaborating in the area by the river Patuca, where an 
expert on the culture of the region is helping to bring back their 
folkloric traditions.

The ambassador said the support for the indigenous people had increased 
their life expectancy to 40 years by the year 2,000, while malnutrition 
levels that affected 92 percent of the population have been reduced as 
well.
 
                                 *
=================================================================
.NY Transfer News Collective     *    A Service of Blythe Systems
.          Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us          .
.339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012      http://www.blythe.org
.  List Archives:      https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
.  Subscribe:    https://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
=================================================================