Another group of Cuban health professionals arrive in South Africa

HAVANA, Cuba, May 30 (acn) In compliance with a cooperation agreement signed by the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro and South African leader Nelson Mandela a new group of 22 Cuban doctors arrived in South Africa on Sunday.

The Cuban doctors totaling now 320 are offering their medical services in that African nation will begin their work in the province of Free State, located over 465 kilometers south of Pretoria, reported Prensa Latina News Agency.

Dr. Alberto Antonio Yanes, head of the Cuban Medical Mission in South Africa said that the health professionals will help implement a public health system similar to the island.

Dr. Yanes added that the South African health authorities in the country and provinces where there are Cuban doctors are very interested in applying the experiences in their new health care system.

The island's contribution is health is important for South Africa among other objectives to combat illnesses like HIV/Aids and tuberculosis, he said.

Such illnesses, said Yanes, kills millions of people a year in the continent as well as the country.

The health professionals who arrived on Sunday to the Oliver Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, are mainly specialists in family medicine but there are also anesthesiologists, pediatricians, gynecologists and psychologists.

The Cuban doctor said that they will all "reinforce the health assistance that Free State already has with the presence of our doctors for the last 20 years".

The first foreign policy measure that Nelson Mandela took after assuming South Africa's presidency after the victorious triumph of the African National Congress during the elections of 1994 was to reestablish diplomatic relations with Cuba on May 11th.

Since then, bilateral ties have been strengthened between both nations since South Africa's fight against apartheid.

According to South African statistics, over 500 Cuban professionals, among them doctors, engineers and others work in 129 areas of the country.
Meanwhile, 3 thousand 100 South African students are studying Medicine in Cuba.