Cuban Medical Brigade holds 10th National Scientific workshop

Accra, May 21, GNA - Dr Benjamin Kumbuor, Deputy Minister of Health, on Thursday commended Cuban medical officers and their Ghanaian counterparts for their tireless efforts in assisting to render quality health services to the people.

He said their invaluable and selfless contribution had led to major improvement in health care delivery among wider communities, as they accepted postings to very remote areas in the country. Dr Kumbuor, who was addressing a scientific workshop which marked the 10th Anniversary of the Cuban Medical Brigade in Accra, said without their services, Ghana's health system would suffer major setbacks in terms of providing both clinical and other special medical services. He said currently the patient to doctor ratio as well as the number of other health professionals did not match the demands for health care. Therefore intervention by the Cuban government and the crucial roles played by the Cuban medical officers could not be underscored. "You have indeed proven to be good ambassadors of the Republic of Cuba since Ghana signed the joint co-operation with your Government in April 1982 to assist Ghana to improve health care delivery," he said. The workshop, which is an annual event, affords members of the Brigade the opportunity to interact, share ideas, review their performance in the year and analyse research findings on the disease burden in the country as well as the actual situation in terms of the delivery of health care services nationwide.

Copies of the research findings and recommendations are presented to the Ministry of Health (MOH), which often served as guidelines for policy makers to make informed decisions to deal with the actual problem on the ground.

Dr Kumbuor acknowledged the fact that apart from providing clinical services at the various health facilities, the Cuban medical officers also undertook outreach programmes and provided indoor services to many villages especially in the northern part of the country.

He said the initial membership of the Brigade, which was 17 in 1982, rose to 54 in May 1994, 62 in 1999, 138 in 2000 and 200 at the moment and expressed the hope that the number would increase further to meet the increasing health care demands of the people.

Dr Kumbuor also thanked the Cuban Government for the assistance given to Ghana in various fields such as scholarships for Ghanaians to study in various courses in Cuba.

Dr Felipe Delgado Bustillo, Head of the Cuban Medical Brigade in Ghana, said though the Brigade had been in Ghana for the past 26 years, it started its annual scientific workshops just 10 years ago when its membership had increased tremendously.

He said with the current membership of 200, the Brigade was able to hold annual workshops to review its performance. He identified their challenges as language barriers, poor infrastructure and equipment for quality health care in the majority of health facilities, saying this made health care delivery unavailable to many. Dr Bustillo said the Brigade would remain faithful to their cause of duty and ensure that serious actions were taken and measures put in place to reduce the current increasing rate of disease burden among the population.

Dr Lamech Abora Addo, District Director of Health Services, Agona Sekyere South District, said apart from the research and service benefits, Ghana was also taping into the knowledge base of the Cuban medical officers in terms of disease prevention. He said in spite of her underprivileged economic position, Cuba had been able to eradicate a large number of diseases from among the population. "We need to know and learn from them how they have mange to do it," he said. He called on his Ghanaian counterparts and all in the medical profession to be devoted and willingly strive to offer selfless services to all Ghanaians to help develop a healthy population. 21 May 09