Accra, May 19, GNA - Mr. Samuel Owusu-Agyei, Deputy Minister of Health, on Thursday commended the Cuban Government for its continuous support in training Ghanaian doctors.

"Over the years, Cuba has continued to incur huge expenditure annually to train Ghanaian doctors and has offered scholarships for them to study in various medical fields in Cuba," he said at the Sixth National Scientific Workshop of the Cuban Medical Brigade to review the work of Cuban medical practitioners operating in the country. He said the Government and the people of Ghana recognized the crucial role being played by the Cuban medical officers who had accepted posting to even the most remote areas in the country.

Mr Owusu-Agyei said: "Apart from providing clinical services at the various health facilities, the Cuban medical officers have also undertaken outreach programmes and provided indoor services to many villages especially in the northern part of the country". "The Cuban medical officers have indeed proven to be good ambassadors of the Republic of Cuba since Ghana signed the joint cooperation agreement with their Government in April 1982 to assist Ghana improve its Health Care Delivery."

The Deputy Minister said it was the hope of Government that the figure would be increase in the near future from its current strength of 189 health professionals.

Mr Owusu-Agyei said the Ministry was happy to know that Cuban doctors serving in the country met annually to share their experiences and research findings among themselves and with other stakeholders in respect of various diseases, which afflicted the people in the communities they served.

He said the Ministry of Health and the Government of Ghana would continue to provide the necessary support to the Cuban medical officers to enable them to provide quality services to Ghanaians. Dr Nania Caridad Carbo, Deputy Head of the Cuban Medical Brigade in Ghana, told the GNA that the workshop would help the Cubans to share ideas on Ghana's health problems with their health counterparts. She said currently the Cuban health professionals were working in 66 different health institutions.