The government at the weekend commended the volunteer Cuban medical doctors working in Ghana for their selfless and dedicated service to public health.
Mr Moses Dani Baah, the Deputy Minister of Health, gave the commendation at the fifth national scientific workshop, which was organised in Accra by the Cuban Medical Brigade in Ghana in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. The Deputy Minister said that Ghana appreciated the sacrifices of the Cubans, especially at this time when there was an acute shortage of qualified Ghanaians to staff the hospitals. ?When cherish the sacrifices you have made, under very trying conditions, to bring health care to mostly rural Ghanaians?, he said.
The Cuban Medical Brigade is made up of 188 doctors and paramedics who are currently working in 66 districts of Ghana spread across all the regions. The workshop, which has become an annual event since it was initiated by the Brigade, takes the form of academic discussions centred on the experience gathered in their respective areas. The workshop also serves as a forum for the Cubans and their Ghanaian counterparts to share their research findings and, through the Health Ministry, to make recommendations to the government for policy changes that will lead to improvements in public health.
Last weekend?s workshop was characterised by the presentation of papers on the various diseases that members of the Brigade have encountered and treated during their two-year stay in Ghana.
The topics discussed included Buruli ulcer, the increasing resistance of malaria to chloroquine treatment, road traffic accidents, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and HIV/AIDS.
Dr Enrique Colas Perez, the head of the Cuban Medical Brigade, took participants through the Brigade?s work in Ghana and detailed the numbers of patients and the variety of diseases they had handled to bring relief to the sick. He said that as at April 16, they had handled 3.6 million cases in the Out-Patient Departments (OPDs) of hospitals and health centres throughout the country. They had also performed 34,192 surgeries, treated 20,221 dental patents and handled 25,367 births.
?This is what we have been able to achieve in tow years?, Dr Perez said proudly. He praised Ghanaians for the hospitality they had shown the Cuban doctors and hoped that this would go along way to improve further the already cordial relations between Ghana and Cuba.
