Cuban Ambassador to India, Alejandro Simancas Marian, called on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayn here on Tuesday.
During their interaction, the Ambassador said Cuba had great experience in general medicine and specialty medicine dating back to the time of Che Guevara.
Extending the wish to cooperate with Kerala in the fields of general medicine and specialty care, Mr. Marian also dwelt on various medical technologies, medical devices, and specific types of medicine developed in Cuba. A discussion about corroborative research was also put forth in the meeting.
Stressing the great potential for cooperation in the field of sports, the Cuban Ambassador also extended cooperation for training the athletes here by Cuban coaches. The Chief Minister expressed willingness for cultural exchange and stressed the need to hold more discussions on subjects like health, science and technology, higher education, and agriculture to find out the areas where cooperation is possible.
The Ambassador also praised Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s leadership for implementing socialist policies including poverty alleviation.
In a meeting with Health Minister Veena George, the Ambassador appreciated the health sector of Kerala. Describing how Cuba faced the pandemic, he said better coordinated actions at the primary health level mainly helped Cuba fight against COVID-19. It was a similar kind of health foundation that enabled Kerala to effectively deal with epidemics like COVID and Nipah, he said, adding cooperation was possible in the field of family doctor schemes, referral system, vaccine and drug production, lifestyle disease control, and medical education.
Ms. George explained that the State’s healthcare was ensured through a three-tier system from sub-center to medical colleges. Joint effort and active intervention of health workers from the field level to top were the strong points of Kerala’s public health system, she said.
