Cuba to continue prioritizing life, Cuban health minister assures

HAVANA, Cuba, Dec 13 (ACN) Cuba, as it has demonstrated for more than six decades, will always continue prioritizing life, said Cuban minister of public health Jose Angel Portal Miranda today, following the approval by Parliament on Monday of the State Budget Law 2023.

In statement published on the Ministry of Public Health's website, Portal Miranda explained that, with the aim of improving the care provided to the people, the financing for next year will be allocated to the acquisition of medicines, expendable materials, reagents and non-medical supplies, and to the repair and maintenance of equipment and sanitary transportation.

The minister pointed out that public health sector expenditures represent 23 % of the total amount allocated to budgetary activity in the country, and said that the planned figures guarantee, among other essential elements of the sector, the recovery of activity levels and prioritized programs.

In addition, it supports the continuity of the training and improvement of our professionals and specialists, as well as the improvement of the structural conditions of institutions, he said.

According to what was revealed on Monday during the sessions of the National Assembly of People's Power (Parliament), which is taking place at the Havana Convention Center, 251,222 million pesos will be spent on Public Health, Education, Culture, Sports, Assistance and Social Security, 16,071 million pesos more than the estimate for this year.

Meisi Bolaños Weiss, Minister of Finance and Prices, informed the deputies that as part of the State Budget, 7,164 million pesos will be allocated to the financing of activity levels, which includes the increase in the cost of medicines, food and the repair and maintenance of construction services, among others.