BuaNews (Tshwane)
18 June 2007
Posted to the web 18 June 2007
Accra
Ghana's Vice-President Alhaji Aliu Mahama has asked Cuba to increase the
size of the Cuban Medical Brigade in Ghana from 185 to 200, to boost
their services in the rural areas.
He also appealed for assistance for animal husbandry as well as citrus
and rice production when he met Cuban Ambassador Gustavo Prez-Cruz in
Accra, Saturday.
The vice-president also requested for more lecturers for the University
of Ghana at Legon, and the University for Development Studies.
He said Cuba, as a strong nation in sports could also support Ghana in
nurturing sports men and women to world-class level.
Vice-President Mahama expressed delight that Cuba had shown interest to
buy cocoa from Ghana, and looked forward for the business drive.
He said Ghana was offering scholarships to a number of Cuban public
servants at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration
as a means of deepening the time-tested bilateral relations.
Ambassador Prez-Cruz said Cuba was exploring the possibility of
establishing a bio-larvicide factory in Ghana to help combat mosquitoes
in the West African sub-region.
He said Cuba also intended to establish a sugar factory in Ghana.
The envoy said the Cuban Medical Brigade had produced a comprehensive
report on diseases in Ghana and made recommendations to deal with them.
South Africa also has a co-operative agreement with Cuba in the
healthcare sector.
By July 2006, a total of 430 South African medical students had been
enrolled in the programme with Cuba, as part of an agreement signed
between the two nations in 1995.
The agreement also includes the recruitment of Cuban doctors to work in
rural areas in South Africa.
After being selected for the training programme, the South African
students study for five years in Cuba and write the National Final Cuban
Examinations.
The trainee-doctors then return to South Africa on the sixth year to do
their final clinical year and internship in various South African
health-science faculties, particularly those in the under-resourced areas.
The students then sit for a South African examination with the rest of
the country's medical students to qualify as doctors.
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