The professionalism of the Cuban doctors working in Calabria today is recognised by the health authorities of this southern Italian region, but above all by the population, according to local media.

A report published by the newspaper Quotidiano del Sud refers to the recent case of a 40-year-old Calabrian woman who arrived at the emergency room of the Polistena Hospital in the province of Reggio Calabria, where a high-level specialist from the Caribbean nation detected a rare disease.

In the report, the patient’s relatives expressed their gratitude to Cuban cardiologist Adrián Naranjo, who saved her life with his accurate diagnosis of Brugada Syndrome, a serious disease of genetic origin, which allowed for prompt treatment.

It is a condition that predisposes to the risk of malignant ventricular arrhythmias and can cause sudden death in young adults with structurally healthy hearts.

The recognition, it is noted, is extended to all members of the brigade, which provides assistance in 27 hospitals in the Calabrian provinces of Catanzaro, Vivo Valentia, Reggio Calabria, Cosenza and Crotone.

In declarations made last year to this news medium, the Cuban ambassador to Italy affirmed that «no campaign of discredit or demoralisation can resist the strength of the daily testimonies of the Calabrians attended to by Cuban doctors».

«I invite you to contact them and interview them, the patients are the ones who can really tell the truth and their experiences,» she said, adding that «what is certain is that the Cuban and Italian doctors working in Calabria have jointly managed to bring hope and health services to a region that needs them».

This Cuban solidarity health assistance in Italy is a continuation of that provided in 2020 by brigades of the Henry Reeve Medical Contingent in the northern cities of Crema and Turin, during the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The first 51 specialists stationed in Calabria arrived in Italy in December 2022, followed by 120 more who arrived in August 2023, while another 106 joined in early 2024, and the last 66 joined the group in October last year, bringing the total to 330 to date.

Most of these doctors have previously served in other countries, as part of the solidarity health aid that Cuba provides to the world, and have extensive professional experience in 22 specialties such as general surgery, orthopaedics, gynaecology, obstetrics, paediatrics and cardiology, among others.

More than 40 percent of them work in the emergency rooms of Calabrian hospitals, where they are most needed, Dr Luis Enrique Pérez, head of the Cuban Medical Mission in Italy, told Prensa Latina.