Objectives of the gathering announced include expanding actions calling for world peace; denouncing the establishment of military bases on all continents by powerful nations; and supporting Cuba’s demand for the return of territory illegally occupied by the U.S. Naval Base in Guantánamo.

Scheduled to participate are María do Socorro Gomes, president of the World Peace Council; Dr. Nancy Acosta Hernández, head of Guantánamo’s provincial government; and Edgar Ponce Iturriaga, Ecuadorian ambassador in Cuba; among other experts and activists.

(Granma)

Five U.S. professors, mostly belonging to this prestigious institution, one of the busiest hospitals in terms of transplants in the United States, will give lectures and exchange with around 80 course participants from across the island, representing health facilities engaged in transplant activity, nephrologist Dr. Alexis Pérez Rodríguez, a member of the organizing committee, told Granma.

Among the guest speakers is Dr. Gaetano Ciancio, professor of Surgery and Urology, director of the MIT and chief promoter of this type of academic exchange, taking place for the third time in Cuba, and seeking to develop kidney donation and transplantation; and update Cuban professionals in this field with the latest techniques.

Also attending the event are Dr. Giselle Guerra, director of the Living Kidney Donor Program and associate professor of Medicine; Dr. Robert Montgomery, of the Division of Transplantation at the Johns Hopkins Comprehensive Transplant Center, Dr. Claus Niemann, professor of Anesthesia and Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco, and specialist Sergio Ruiz, coordinator of Specialty Pharmacy in Florida.

The event, also organized by the Cuban societies of Nephrology and Urology, will discuss among other areas strategies to increase kidney donation, tolerance protocols and surgical challenges in living donors, and will also feature presentations on the experiences of transplant services in the country.

According to Dr. Pérez Rodríguez, by the end of September, 140 deceased donor and ten living donor kidney transplants had been undertaken this year. Since the procedure began to be implemented in Cuba, 5,145 deceased donor and 454 living donor kidney transplants have been undertaken across the island.

(Granma)