UNDOUBTEDLY one of the success stories under the this government is the Cuban scholarship programme which on conclusion will see some 750 Guyanese trained in various fields, but in particular the medical profession which would provide a significant  boost to our health care system,
Of course the clinching of the scholarship agreement fructified mainly through the initiative and instrumentality of President Jagdeo who recently disclosed that if all the Cuban scholarships offered to students of Guyana were to be quantified, they would exceed US$100 million and for a country forced since 1959 to endure an economic embargo, this is a generous gift to the people of Guyana.
The President is dead on target, because even the wealthy countries do not provide such genuine and generous assistance like what Cuba is providing, not only to Guyana but scores of other developing countries. In addition, they have medical brigades in all parts of the globe providing invaluable medical care and service, inclusive of our country.
What is remarkable is that despite the difficulties that Cuba has been facing since the revolution due to political hostility mainly from the US and some its allies, Cuba has one of the best health care systems in the world. That is a monumental achievement bearing in mind the political hostility and the natural disasters it has had to endure. And this is something even those who are opposed to Cuban political system have to admit and acknowledge.
This is what a 1999 UNDP report on the Cuban health care system stated: “An evaluation of 25 countries in the Americas, measuring relative inequalities in health, revealed that Cuba is the country with the best health situation in Latin America and the Caribbean.  It is also the country which has achieved the most effective impact with resources, although scarce, invested in the health sector”
And a group of US medical practitioners who visited Cuba noted: “As US clinicians, we are accustomed to the never-ending paperwork associated with figuring out what health services different patients are or are not entitled to; this exists because we have a two-tiered market-driven health care system. It was almost exhilarating to see a system in which such barriers to care did not exist and there was an overall health system. But is it was sobering to realize the enormous burdens under which Cubans work. Food is rationed (in a very thoughtful way), housing is in very short supply (particularly in Havana), many people wear used clothing from overseas and transportation is limited. Adding to these burdens is the embargo imposed by the US government.”
“The official Cuban website for health information is Infomed, a sophisticated site full of information. Unfortunately Infomed is available only in Spanish. Infomed provides links to the major Cuban health publications, including the Revista Cubana de Salud Pública. We were fortunate to meet its editor, Dr. Francisco Rojas Ochoa, a 2005 recipient of a PAHO Public Health Award. He shared with us a copy of their recent book “Salud para todos: Si es posible”, an explanation of how Cuba was able to achieve the goals of health for all through the development of a primary care system.”
The students and our country are both fortunate to benefit from the generosity and the humanitarian spirit of the Cuban people,
Those who have completed their training in Cuba should now take the example of the Cuban people, who are working in patriotic fervour under difficult circumstances to develop and advance their country. They are obligated to faithfully and dedicatedly serve their country.