WHO-Cuba: The significance of gratitude

All signs of gratitude are welcomed. But some are even more.

That is the case of the special thanks given by Tedros Adhanom — General Director of the World Health Organization (WHO) —  to Cuba last Wednesday in Geneva when he praised the support of our country to several nations during the most dramatic moments of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The message was personally delivered to Cuba’s Minister of Public Health, Dr. José Ángel Portal Miranda, during the 75^th World Health Assembly, which is being held in Geneva up until next Saturday and is the first in-person meeting of this kind since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

Dr. Tedros was again elected for another five years to lead that international body.

“I met Health Minister @japortalmiranda to discuss #Cuba's efforts to control #COVID19 and develop effective vaccines,” he wrote on Twitter.

As you can see, in retrospective, there are countless experiences inside and outside the Island with which Cubans may contribute with, and they are certainly unforgettable.

The gratitude and that handshake between the two executives look like the end of a chapter, but not the end of the whole story.

At the moment of writing these lines, Cuba had recorded no deaths linked to Covid-19 for twelve consecutive days, and even when biosecurity measures cannot be ignored, it seems that the nightmare is just fading away.

The show starts to bring the curtain down in several countries, including ours, after this dark and lengthy first act. But we should not leave our seats because the “virus” is still out there, especially in other latitudes, and Cuba is working hard with the second dose of the reinforcement vaccine for individuals older than 50 years old, and some other risk groups.

We are also waiting for the process of certification of our vaccines, which the WHO is also monitoring, as the WHO leader confirmed to our Minister of Public Health in their most recent meeting.

Simultaneously, Cuba continues to offer its support, which deserved the acknowledgement of the WHO and Mr. Portal Miranda ratified in Geneva that Cuba will continue to strengthen it.

The director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Carissa Etienne, described the fight of Cuba against Covid-19 as successful. And this is a fight we face with optimism and no overconfidence.  

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff