Speaking to the press, Martinez, who is a member of the American College of Cardiology and works at the Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey, said that there is much to learn from Cuban medicine, which in addition to being provided free of charge despite financial limitations, manages to do a great deal for the health of the nation’s inhabitants.

“Cuba’s results in the field of Cardiology are fabulous, and should be known by the world scientific community,” Dr. Martinez said, who noted the quality of Cuban specialists who have the ability to serve everyone who needs treatment.

He insisted that it is important to come to Cuba to events like this, to share and exchange common experiences in the field of Cardiology, because we have the same problems with cholesterol, arrhythmias, damage caused to smokers, and other pathologies that affect the heart.

The gathering of some 400 specialists was also attended by Professor Giovanni Pedrazzini, president of the Swiss Society of Cardiology, who highlighted the quality of Cuban medicine, which amidst many limitations maintains all its services.

During a presentation offered within the framework of the event, Pedrazzini said that if something merits attention in the case of Cuba, it is the joint work of its institutions that, despite limited resources, make the most of the country’s indisputable medical talent.

“What you are doing is Fidel Castro’s dream. Without his idea it would not have been possible to have a school that has trained students from Third World countries, who would not have had the possibility of studying medicine had they not been given an opportunity at this school, of a scholarship that provides everything free of charge,” stated the Cuban ambassador to Colombia, José Luis Ponce, speaking with the young people and their families at El Dorado International Airport.

“We are sure that you appreciate the love with which we give you this and how we share what we have, not what we have left over,” said Ponce on a day when Cubans commemorate the 93rd anniversary of Fidel’s birth.

The diplomat said that over the next two years, 1,000 students on scholarships, donated by the Cuban government to the Colombian people, will begin their studies in Cuba to support their re-integration into society with the signing in 2016 of the Peace Agreement between the Colombian state and FARC-EP guerrillas.

(Granma)

Victims of the conflict, former guerrillas, relatives of troops, and the population in rural regions of the country, according to Prensa Latina, are included in the group of approximately 200 young people who will begin their studies at ELAM this year.

(Granma)

Specialists from Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Spain and Italy, as well as the host country Cuba, will participate in Histarmed, organized by the Medical Sciences University of Havana, from March 8th.

The program includes topics such as Great Warriors, their pathobiographies, and History of Art, and lectures such as ‘Doctors seen by painters’ and ‘Vincent van Gogh: artistic expression and lead poisoning’.

Other topics of the event are addiction to new technologies in early childhood and a lecture on humor from history, art and medicine.

Participants will be able to approach to the link of history with microbiology in Cuba, as well as homeopaths in the wars for independence in the second half of the 19th century and the events that contributed to the development of neurosciences.

Histarmed, to be hosted by the Conference Center of Cojimar, in Habana del Este, will run until March 10th.

(Prensa Latina)

BiologistIraldo Bello, who participated in the process, described the drug which combines interferón “Alfa” and interferón “Gamma” through the use of recombinant technology at the CIGB – as “unique” in the world.

The injectable medication cures or reduces the size of malignant skin tumors and can prevent scaring from surgery in areas difficult to operate on such as the face, noted the specialist. Bello also explained that Cuba has a high rate of skin cancer, which is usually caused by excessive exposure to the sun.

CIGB production plants have already manufactured over 10,000 vials of the new medicine, which continues to be developed with the aim of treating other types of cancer. Meanwhile the next step will be to include Heberferon on the island’s list of basic medicines, he stated.
The CIGB also produces the complementary lung cancer medication “Cimavax EGF”, which is applied alongside conventional treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy, and despite not providing a cure, does help to manage the disease and improve the patient’s quality of life, above all, of those whose condition is in the advanced stage.

Another outstanding product developed by Cuba’s biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry is “Heberprot-P,” a medicine to treat diabetic foot ulcers and avoid amputations, as well as drugs against hepatitis B and meningitis.

(Granma)

Destined to primarily serve the pharmaceutical industry, the plant should begin operations in the second half of 2016, and will subsequently be expanded.

Anabel Rodríguez Vera, general coordinator for the state enterprise GEOCUBA in the province, which is carrying out the project, explained that in its first year the plant is expected to produce some 183 million cardboard pill boxes and pouches in a variety of formats, adding that the planned expansion should allow for the production of 437 million units annually, by 2018.

The investment should be recuperated, she said, within four years, as a result of savings produced by the substitution of Cuban made products for previously imported packaging.

Rodríguez additionally reported that the plant will also be capable of manufacturing packaging for the food processing and cosmetics industries.

Accompanying the Vice President were Gladys Martínez Verdecia, first secretary of the Party in Pinar del Río, and Ernesto Barreto Castillo, president of the Provincial Assembly of People’s Power.

(Granma)

and to strengthen ties with Cuba. The II International Meeting of Graduates 2012 will also promote scientific discussion, teaching and research in the project founded in 1999 by the leader of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro.

Professionals from different associations with an integrated vision will meet to work and research together in pursue to multinational programs, Juan Carrizo, Rector of ELAM, said to the National Information Agency (AIN).

Carrizo, who is also President of the Organizing Committee of the forum, added that the event includes a science fair sample of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment developed in Cuba, and a representation of international medical laboratories accredited in Cuba.

As part of the meeting, which will last until Thursday, there will be a photographic exhibition of graduates’ associations, which are already 15,000 from 100 nations.

Prestigious Cuban and foreign professionals will give pre-meeting updating courses and conferences, and researchers will present their works, said the announcement.

It will be a significant opportunity to exchange experiences, learn about the Institute’s scientific and technical breakthroughs and plan join projects between neurology and neurosurgery centers, which contribute to boost scientific research and improve health care.

Cerebral-vascular, neuromuscular and neurodegenerative diseases, movement disorders, epilepsy, pediatric neurology, neuroimaging, clinical and genetic neurophysiology and neurological disorders, among other prominent issues, will be debated at the meeting.

(Prensa Latina)