Cuba’s Minister of Public Health, Dr José Angel Portal Miranda, today expressed his gratitude for the unanimous support of the 120 member countries of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) for Cuba’s international medical collaboration, during his intervention at the virtual meeting prior to the 78th World Health Assembly.

«It is the voice of the South that defends the dignity of our peoples and the right to health as a universal good, not as a privilege of a few,» said the Cuban minister, according to the Minsap website.

Portal Miranda stressed that Cuba shares what it has, not what it has too much of, in reference to the more than 605,000 health professionals who have provided services in 165 countries.

The minister denounced the US economic blockade and the inclusion of Cuba on the list of sponsors of terrorism as a direct attack on global efforts to guarantee health for all.

These unilateral coercive measures not only affect our people, but limit Cuba’s ability to continue contributing to global health, he said.

The Cuban health minister called for international unity to confront health challenges, stressing that no country, no matter how powerful, can solve global health problems alone.

Minister Portal Miranda’s intervention followed the approval of a joint NAM Declaration that recognises and supports the work of Cuban medical collaborators around the world.

The meeting was attended by the Director General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, among other international health authorities.