#Headlines

Gambian Minister for Health makes fruitful visit to Cuba

Aug 19, 2024, 10:44 AM

Banjul, August 18. – Gambian Minister for Health, Dr. Ahmadou Lamin Samateh, made a working visit to Cuba with the purpose of expanding the historic collaboration in this area between the two sister countries, which was described as very fruitful.

During his stay in Havana last week, Samateh and the delegation that accompanied him, the permanent secretary, Adama Drammeh, and the new ambassador of this African nation in the Caribbean island, Seyaka Sonko, carried out an extensive program that included various meetings and tours of scientific institutions and health care centers.

The Gambian minister and his delegation were received by his counterpart from the largest of the Antilles, José Ángel Portal Miranda, and several of his officials, a meeting in which they discussed increasing bilateral cooperation with new initiatives of mutual benefit.

They also held a positive meeting with the directors of the Central Unit of Medical Collaboration (UCCM), in charge of the Cuban Brigades of doctors, graduates and technicians who cure and save lives in numerous countries in Africa and other continents.

Samateh and his delegation visited the prestigious Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), where they learned first-hand from their hosts about famous medicines produced in the largest of the Antilles, including Heberprot-P, the only drug in the world for the effective healing of deep and complex neuropathic and ischemic diabetic foot ulcers.

Heberprot-P, already applied in various nations, accelerates the progressive and sustained healing of ulcers, a very common ailment in African countries, and reduces the risk of amputations in the lower limbs.

Good omens are expected for the Cuba-Gambia health collaboration, which dates back almost three decades, and currently more than a hundred professionals from the island provide their healthcare services here, in addition to professors who train new generations at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Banjul.