A group of Cuban doctors who spent two years providing medical services in the Southeast Asian nation of East Timor were met at the airport in Havana by Public Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer Cabrera upon their return home on Thursday.Among the accomplishments of the group of 177 Cuban health professionals, who served in the middle of frequent armed conflicts, were more than two million doctor visits, the start up of a medical school where 148 Timor students are training and contributing to reducing the infant mortality rate.
Roberto Fernandez Cordovez, chief of the humanitarian mission, told Granma that of all the international collaborators, the Cubans were the only ones who remained during the recent political crisis in East Timor, becoming part of the country’s history.
The Health minister expressed his admiration and respect for the doctors whom he congratulated for their brave efforts, putting their own lives at risk, to save others in a complex situation.
