Cuba marks the Latin American Medicine Day

The Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK), in Havana, will host this Thursday the main event for the Latin American Medicine Day, which is celebrated every December 3, in remembrance of the birth of Carlos J. Finlay, eminent Cuban scientist and physician.

The institution, a reference in research, diagnosis, management and treatment of infectious diseases, has had an outstanding work in 2020 in confronting the COVID-19, by carrying out in its facilities the first studies of the cases confirmed in Cuba.

Likewise, until the end of October, almost 300 thousand tests had been carried out in its laboratories, which allowed determining the behavior of the pandemic in the country, organizing health services and designing timely actions to contain the infections.

The IPK had the mission of preparing the professionals who attended patients in the red zone, in addition to controlling the quality of the new Molecular Biology laboratories that emerged in several provinces and that currently total 17 in the country.

For his results, it was awarded the Prize for Excellence in Public Health, by the World Health Society, a recognition that highlights the work of his group in nine months of work.

As part of the activities for the Latin American Medicine Day, several health institutions deserved distinctions and recognitions.

Among those who received the Proeza Laboral Flag are the Central Military Hospital Dr. Luis Díaz Soto, of Havana; Fermín Valdés Domínguez and Lucía Íñiguez Surgical Clinic, of Holguín, and the Sancti Spíritus Rehabilitation Hospital; as well as the National Oncology and Radiology Institutes and the Vaccine Finlay.

Groups such as the National Clinical Trials Coordination Center were distinguished with the Merit seal for humanism, sensitivity and solidarity, awarded by the Health Workers Union.

Likewise, the condition of Youth for Life was deserved by hundreds of students and health professionals with an outstanding participation in the fight against COVID-19.