THE Cuban Medical Brigade in Guyana has been credited with ‘saving’ 4,143 lives during the first six months of 2015 under the Cuban Comprehensive Health Project which is being rolled out simultaneously with the Operation Miracle Project at the Port Mourant Ophthalmology Centre. This is according to head of the Cuban Medical Brigade, Midalys Otero Hernandez who spoke with the Guyana Chronicle during an exclusive interview.
“During the first six months of this current year our Cuban Medical Brigade has treated an amount of 208,596 patients by different specialists, and surgeons have treated 6,605 patients, being 4,143 lives saved,” Hernandez said.
She said the Cuban Brigade, which is made up of 85 doctors and 33 nurses, has been working hand-in-hand with Guyanese doctors and nurses in seven regions.
“We work together with the Ministry of Public Health of Guyana promoting the international dates of the health system; we organise health activities and guide Guyanese people towards the education and prevention of health affectations.
“We take part together with the Guyanese medical staff in outreaches in distant places, this task our collaborators do with happiness; motivated, they are not afraid of tiredness.”
According to Hernandez, “they only do that to increase and support Guyana’s people health indicators.”
On the international stage, 325,710 collaborators are offering their service in 158 countries while 50,281 Cuban health professionals are operating in 68 nations.
The Cuban Medical School annually graduates more than 68,000 foreign students from 157 countries
GUYANA’S SOLIDARITY AND COURAGE
Cuba remembers the act of solidarity and courage shown by Guyana and three other independent countries in 1972. It has consistently forged and strengthened its relations with Guyana through cooperation agreements in the areas of health, education, culture, sport and agriculture, among others.
Guyana has been receiving Cuban medical personnel since 1978. The Cubans have provided healthcare and services to Guyanese at home and to those who have travelled to Cuba for specialist treatment at little or no cost. Guyana has the largest contingent of scholarship students from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) studying in Cuba.
The Operation Milagro Programme and the three diagnostic centres in different regions of Guyana perhaps best illustrate the value of the relationship.

By Svetlana Marshall