Havana Welcomes Nurses from Santiago de Cuba

Officials from the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) and the Provincial Health Directorate in Havana officially welcomed a brigade of nurses from Santiago de Cuba today. The brigade will provide support for caregiving activities in hospitals designated for treating cases of arboviruses.

The welcoming ceremony took place at the Victoria de Girón Faculty of Medical Sciences. On behalf of the group, nurse José Ángel Sánchez Rodríguez expressed the commitment they have made to health and to life, as well as their willingness to unconditionally contribute for as long as necessary in the capital's healthcare institutions where their efforts are required.

According to Cosme Moré Cuesta, Director of Dissemination and Information at the University of Medical Sciences of Havana, Yagen Pomares Pérez, General Director of Primary Health Care at MINSAP, thanked the nurses for this solidary gesture on behalf of the sector's authorities and the population. She highlighted the immediacy with which the nurses from the heroic Santiago de Cuba responded to the request for support and how they are now joining the fight against arboviruses in the Cuban capital.

Also present at the reception were Roberto Carrocero Beltrán, National Head of Nursing; Osmayda Pedroso Valdés, National Nursing Advisor; Liván Sánchez Espinosa, from the Department of Medical Assistance in Havana; and Ruth Monier Morales, Head of Nursing for the capital.

Health System Activated Against Epidemiological Situation

In recent statements to the press, Reinol Delfín García Moreiro, Deputy Minister of Public Health, commented that to confront the current complex epidemiological situation—where arboviruses like dengue and chikungunya converge with other respiratory and digestive infections—the ministry has activated all components of its health system. These include the care, logistics, training, science and innovation, and communications components.

He explained that the National Health System has the necessary experience, strength, and capacity for this situation, which includes the coordination of more than 10,700 doctor's offices and 451 polyclinics with emergency services across the country. He emphasized that the first level of care is fundamental for success in epidemiological control.

The primary goal is to prevent people from reaching severe stages of the disease and to avoid fatal outcomes, the Vice Minister emphasized.