China and Cuba celebrate 10 years of cooperation in ophthalmology center

HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 8 (ACN) China and Cuba celebrated this Sunday the tenth anniversary of cooperation in a joint ophthalmological hospital in the province of Anhui (located in Eastern China) and ratified the willingness to expand ties in the health sector.

The commemorative ceremony was led by Liu Li, vice president of the Political Consultative Conference of that province, and Nestor Torres, the island's consul in Shanghai, Prensa Latina news agency reported from Beijing.

The Chinese leader highlighted that in the last decade four groups of Cuban specialists have provided high quality services to patients at the Second Provincial People's Hospital of Anhui and assured that her entity will maintain its support for the continued development of this project.
She considered the initiative as an example of international medical cooperation and also a reflection of the strength of relations between the two socialist countries, their high degree of mutual trust and close communication.

Meanwhile, Torres read a message from Cuban Ambassador Carlos Miguel Pereira, in which he reviewed the history of bilateral exchanges in the health sector and also referred to the significance of the work at the Second Anhui Provincial People's Hospital.

"Throughout these years, more than 30 Cuban collaborators have joined side by side with their Chinese colleagues in the noble task of preserving health and guaranteeing health care to the Chinese people. The fruits of this cooperation have brought tangible benefits for both countries," he said.

Among other issues, the diplomat said that the recent renewal of the memorandum signed in 2014 opens the door to more projects and in new fields such as biotechnology, services in treatment of the elderly, cancer, prevention and control of chronic diseases, training of professionals and the fight against COVID-19.

In China, medical collaboration began to make its mark in 2006, at the initiative of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, and by agreement of both governments as an expression of brotherhood and mutual trust.

It began with the opening of three ophthalmological centers in joint hospitals in the provinces of Qinghai, Shanxi and Henan, and continues to this day with good results and expectations of expanding in the provision of medical services and in the academic, scientific and health tourism areas.

In biotechnology, there is an important cooperation link that resulted in the Lukang-Heber joint ventures for agricultural biotechnology products; Biotech-Beijing, manufacturer of drugs such as Nimotuzumab for nasopharyngeal cancer; and ChangHeber in Jilin, where recombinant Interferon alpha 2B is obtained.

The latter drug was one of about 30 chosen by China's National Health Commission for its potential against COVID-19.