A project to strengthen the Cuban health system in the face of the COVID-19financed by the government of Japan and executed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) with the participation of Cuban authorities, is advancing with good results after a year of implementation, according to representatives of that international organization.
Dr. Odalys Rodríguez, program officer Every child survives and thrivesof UNICEFexplained that the collaboration will extend until April 2024, with the purpose of guaranteeing human safety during the health emergency, by supporting the health system, the vaccination campaign and health education, in accordance with the official site cubadebate.
Progress with good results Project “Strengthening the capacity of the National Health System for the covid-19 crisis” in #Cubafinanced by the government of Japan and executed by UNICEF.
?https://t.co/9Zq86WEZVT pic.twitter.com/X1kCFdr5TW
— Embassy of Cuba in Japan / 駐日キューバ共和国大使館 (@embacubajapon) November 24, 2022
The project, named Strengthening the capacity of the National Health System for the COVID-19 crisis, includes medical equipment and supplies. Most of them have been acquired or are in the process of arriving in the country to favor, together with the training of specialists, maternal-infant care, children and adolescents, and the immunization program.
The note specifies that this contribution from Japan and Unicef benefits the cold chain of 255 polyclinics in several Cuban provinces: Pinar del Río, Havana, Matanzas, Camagüey, Granma, Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo, as well as the Special Municipality of Isla de youth.
In addition, it strengthens the institutional capacities of 13 hospitals linked to maternal and child care with the acquisition of 447 refrigerators prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Project of Japan and Unicef contributes almost 3 million dollars to face the pandemic in Cuba
Other beneficiary institutions are the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology and the Finlay Vaccine Institute, producers of Cuban immunogens against SARS-CoV-2, which have also strengthened their cold chain.
The source that Kenji Hirata, ambassador of Japan in Cuba, thanked Unicef and the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) for the accompaniment in this project, and assured that for his country it is very important that the donation to the Island, collected thanks to the collection of the Japanese people, be used effectively and consolidate the medical assistance of Cubans.
For her part, Alejandra Trossero, UNICEF representative in Cuba, highlighted the trust of the Asian nation and its population in her organization to implement the project, and recognized the alliance between that international entity and the United Nations Population Fund in the training of professionals, says the media.
The project, which amounts to 326 million Japanese yen, equivalent to 2,970,297 US dollars, is aligned with the Cuban Government’s National Response Plan for the control and containment of COVID-19 and the Emergency Response Plan of the international organization for the sector.
Since the start of the pandemic, Cuba has received various donations from governments —including Japan—, companies and international organizations, as well as solidarity associations and Cubans residing abroad. Through this route, both monetary funds and medicines, means of protection, syringes for anticovid vaccination and equipment such as an oxygen generating plant for medical use have arrived in the country. donated by unicef in September 2021.
