Cuba And Venezuela Strengthen Health Cooperation Agreement

The governments of Venezuela and Cuba have signed a new agreement of cooperation on health in order to deepen and strengthen the health coverage of the Venezuelan National Public Health System. The agreement comprehends the training of technicians as well as the presentation and advice for electromedicine services, from Cuba to Venezuela.

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The Venezuelan Minister of the Popular Power for Health, Carlos Alvarado, stated that "within this project a company is being created that will be named VenSalud and its goal will be to perform the repair and maintenance of the equipment of the Autonomous Service of Pharmaceutical Processing (SEFAR), entity attached to the Ministry of Health."

Additionally, Minister Alvarado also stressed that the Cuban Minister of Health, Jose Angel Portal, and his team, will work to assist and train Venezuelan technicians to continue building the health system, in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

The signing of the agreement comes after the XVI Summit of Heads of States and Governments of the Bolivarian Alliance of the Peoples of Our America - Trading Treaty of the Peoples (ALBA-TCP) held on December 14 in Havana, the Cuban capital. The ALBA-TCP is an integrationist body for the countries of Latin America, to generate better cooperation ties within the region, strengthen the independence of its countries and to reject different forms of colonialism that Latin America has experienced for centuries.

On October 30, 2000, the Cuba-Venezuela Integration Agreement was signed with the objective of establishing a cooperative effort among nations to provide free and quality health care to the population that suffers from diseases and requires prompt attention in order to contribute to their quality of life.

The Cuban government, established after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro, is known worldwide for its internationalist efforts to encourage free and quality health care around the world. Cuban medical missions are famous for their altruism and professionalism.  According to Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, the Cuban Doctors have "shown that a better world is possible."

Recently, the Cuban Government was forced to put an end to the More Doctors program, and withdraw over 18,000 health professionals that attended the poorest people in remote parts of Brazil; this happened due to the authoritarian and offensive remarks made by President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, against the Cuban government. "You are more than medics because you have returned to the homeland with such a revolutionary experience that has ennobled you," said President Diaz-Canel to the doctors who arrived in Havana from Brazil.