Mexico, Feb 18 (Prensa Latina) The arrivals of Cuban medical experts in Mexico have helped to fill the gap in health services for people who lack social security, especially in places with unfilled medical positions, La Jornada noted on Monday.

According to the digital edition of the newspaper, the existence of unfilled positions is a phenomenon present in the country and more so in areas such as the southern state of Chiapas, where remote rural and indigenous communities in poverty predominate.

“In these places, the operation of a health center or a basic community hospital changes the lives of people who have never had anything,” the publication added.

La Jornada visited four municipalities in the state where doctors from Cuba are rendering their services and confirmed that “wherever they work, they have made a difference due to their willingness to care for patients, even doing more than they should and regardless of where they are.”

According to the article, “this is acknowledged by their colleagues in the medical units and the state authorities of IMSS-Bienestar,” an institution in charge of providing free care to citizens without social security.

Some specialists in clinical areas were assigned to health centers in indigenous communities, others to basic community hospitals and even to general hospitals, such as the one in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, which is a state reference center, the newspaper pointed out.

The Cuban professionals “have ensured that people do not have to leave their communities for illnesses such as a respiratory or gastrointestinal infections; or if it is a basic community hospital, women can give birth there.”

Simple operations are also performed, such as appendix or gallbladder surgeries, and others, and patients do not have to travel to one of 16 general hospitals in Chiapas, which are saturated, the newspaper highlighted.

Just because of this work, the demand for services in the hospitals associated with a network of health centers and basic community hospitals strengthened with doctors and equipment was reduced by 30-40 percent in the last year, which is a step forward, the head of Health Education at IMSS-Bienestar, Guillermo Pérez, said.

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Mexico, Feb 18 (Prensa Latina) President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that Mexico is opening its doors to doctors from Cuba and other nationalities to fill vacant positions in the sector, while increasing the training of local physicians.

In her regular press conference, the head of State recalled that for years, in the so-called neoliberal period, the door was blocked to general physicians in the country who wanted to specialize, “in this absurd idea that if you close the entrance, then you will have excellent students.”

“You get to the current moment and you say Mexico needs more hospitals, more health centers, but for that you need more doctors,” explained the president, who emphasized the existence of four-, five- and six-year specialties.

“In terms of training your specialists, what did the Mexican Government do and what we continue to do? The door is opened to other nationalities who want to come, resident specialists, to our country, including Cuban doctors,” she pointed out.

In response to a question about the work of the Cuban physicians in the southern state of Chiapas, the president noted that they are not only found in that territory, but in many other places in the nation.

Meanwhile, the administration is promoting the training of medical specialists in Mexico, she said, and noted that in 2011, only 6,000 people were admitted in the residency (specialty) nationwide and currently there are 18,799.

“What changed? Well, simply a recognition that the country requires medical specialists and that they have to be trained in public institutions,” she stated.

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Havana, Feb 17 (Radio Havana Cuba) Cuba and Bolivia will sign today in Havana a collaboration agreement on nuclear medicine, as announced by the Cuban ambassador to the South American country, Elba Rosa Pérez.

The signing entities are the Bolivian Nuclear Energy Agency (ABEN) and the Isotopes Center of the Agency for Nuclear Energy and Advanced Technologies (AENTA) of Cuba.

This agreement is part of the long-standing Governmental Cooperation Agreement between Bolivia and Cuba, in which context numerous initiatives have been implemented in the field of science and technology.

However, Pérez pointed out that this new perspective provides a more tangible approach to addressing the issue of nuclear development and cutting-edge technologies.

With regard to ABEN, she acknowledged its highly equipped organization with advanced technology.

She said the agency is eager to collaborate and leverage the expertise of Cuban human resources, having been familiar with Cuba’s work for many years.

According to the Cuban diplomat, the new agreement will contribute to the advancement of medical treatments, thereby enhancing the holistic well-being of individuals suffering cancer. (Source: Prensa Latina)