Cuban Deputy Minister of Health welcomes US delegation

HAVANA, Oct 3 (ACN) Marcia Cobas Ruiz, Cuba's deputy minister of public health, welcomed today a delegation of 24 Americans, led by Rosa Luisa DeLauro, U.S. representative to the third congressional district of Connecticut and a member of the Democratic Party, and William DeLahunt, president of the political consulting firm DeLahunt and Massachusetts Democratic congresswoman.

According to the official website of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), at the meeting the deputy minister addressed the main results of the National Health System and international medical collaboration, as well as the work carried out by the doctors who serve internationalist missions in 65 countries.

Delauro thanked the training of North American doctors at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) and expressed: "We are interested in two things: listening and learning from all the wonderful work you do.

The U.S. representative stated that Congress could work to expand exchanges between the two countries: "It is an issue we will take with us and we will work on it.

At the meeting Cobas briefed on the aggressive policy toward Cuba, and especially toward the health sector and its international medical collaboration, undertaken by the current U.S. administration.

She said that an example of this hostile policy was the denial of visas to the Cuban delegation, headed by Health Minister Jose Angel Portal Miranda, to participate in the 57th Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), of which Cuba is a member country.

Despite the United States' historic policy of meddling in Cuba, both nations have tried to contribute to the health of the people.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Cobas asked how the U.S. Congress could influence to lessen the effects of the aggressive policy towards Cuba, to which DeLauro stated that "politics should not be a problem when it comes to a sector like health, when it comes to save lives, and we will continue to work on this.