200-MEMBER CUBAN MEDICAL TEAM EXPECTED IN JUNE (BACK PAGE)

Story: Abdul Aziz

Two hundred Cuban medical personnel are expected in the country by June this year for posting to various hospitals, particularly the three northern regions, where there is an urgent need for medical personnel.
The group includes nine professors, the first to be part of a Cuban Medical Brigade, who would be posted to the School of Medicine and Health Sciences of the University for Development Studies, Tamale.
Mr Kwasi Osei-Adjei, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and NEPAD, announced this at the closing of the 14th session of the Ghana-Cuba Permanent Joint Commission for Co-operation.
He said the government appreciated the services of the Cuban Medical Brigade, who had worked over the years and continued to work in hospitals in the regions and districts.
He said the Cubans had made a positive contribution towards the realisation of the government's objective of improved health delivery to the people of Ghana, adding that he looked forward to further collaboration between the two countries in addressing the critical health issues of the people.
Mr Osei-Adjei said the country was particularly happy that in addition to the medical brigade, Cuba was also sending a number of medical professors to lecture at the University for Development Studies Medical School.
He said their services would help train more doctors locally and address the current shortage of health professionals in the country.
The minister stressed that the government attached great value to the scholarships that Cuba offered Ghanaian students in various disciplines because they contributed to the manpower needs of the country,
He, however, stated that the low level of formal trading activities between Ghana and Cuba was a matter of great concern to both countries.
He said the issue of low trade was extensively discussed during the 14th session, and the issue of how economic relations between the two countries could be better developed and sustained was critically examined.
He said as a first step, co-operation in the cocoa industry in particular had been adequately addressed by the experts on both sides and that it would encourage the trading of other related products between the two countries.
Mr Ricardo Ruiz, Senior Minister of Governmental Business of Cuba, who led the Cuban delegation, said other areas the two countries agreed to co-operate in included malarial and pest control, genetic engineering, biotechnology, and information technology and communication (ICT).