France donates medical supplies to Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, May 5 (ACN) The French government delivered on Thursday, in Havana, a donation of 18 tons of medical equipment and supplies to Cuba, in support of the plan to prevent and control the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and for the benefit of the country's health institutions.

Patrice Paoli, the French ambassador to the island, said the donation was made in the spirit of the solidarity existing between both countries and the cooperation ties they maintain in the area of health and in the academic, cultural, scientific, urban development and agriculture fields.

The diplomat also acknowledged the admirable management of the crisis by the Cuban government, through the development of its own vaccines, vaccination campaigns for all citizens and respect for sanitary measures, which allowed the Caribbean nation to register low contamination indexes compared to the rest of the continent.

The items received include a shipment of antigen tests, surgical masks, examination gloves, KN95 masks, respirators, respirator circuits and filters, disposable gowns, protective screens and sampling kits valued at US$ 1,645,000.

At the ceremony, Paoli informed that they are developing production capacities for vaccines against meningitis together with the Finlay Vaccine Institute, in addition to recognizing the work of this institution and the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, which recently received the Medal for Inventors awarded by the World Intellectual Heritage Organization.

Magalis Estrada Díaz, general director of cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment, explained the importance of receiving this donation in the current context, characterized by the tightening of the U.S. blockade against Cuba, which is a sign of the bilateral collaboration relations.

Estrada Díaz thanked the French government and people, as well as the intentions to continue diversifying economic and commercial ties on the basis of brotherhood and solidarity.

The contributions received, together with the efforts of the island's health personnel, have made it possible to face the crisis generated by Covid-19, managing to immunize more than nine million people to date, she said.

In 2020, France made a similar donation to Cuba, in which it provided respirators, protective equipment, gowns, masks and diagnostic test kits, for an amount of more than five million euros.

In addition, the French funding has allowed the Ministry of Public Health to maintain projects to increase its capacities and prepare the Pedro Kourí Institute (IPK) in its mission to fight epidemics, pandemics and infectious diseases.