Francis Tawiah’s Plagiarized Anti-Cuba Propaganda Put To Shame and Rest

On 5th May 2013, an article entitled “Why The Unqualified Cuban Doctors Will Kill The Ghanaian People” supposedly written by Francis Tawiah was published by the websites Modernghana.com and Ghanaweb.com. However, as a matter of fact, this article was a word-for-word, plagiarized copy of an anti-Cuba propaganda piece written by Luís Henrique Vieira, a self-described freelance journalist, under the title “Once Renowned, Cuban Doctors Are Failing their Medical Exams in Droves” and published on 25th October 2011 by Fox News Latino:

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/health/2011/10/24/cuban-doctors-get-sickly-results-in-brazilian-medical-exams/

The merits of the article are not worth discussing as Henriques deliberately confuses the alleged failure of exams by Cuban-trained doctors returning to Brazil with the quality of Cuban doctors. It is important, however, to turn to the background of the plagiarizer, Francis Tawiah, himself. He self-identifies as a Ghanaian resident in Germany, who has a knack for submitting various articles to Modernghana.com. Typically, Tawiah’s columns portray a writer struggling with basic English grammar and construction. His horrendous English leads one to believe he entered Germany as one of the many semi-Illiterate and poorly-educated immigrants from Ghana, and that his deficiency in English has been compounded by his German-speaking environment. It is not surprising therefore that he would lift out an entire article from the web, not give attribution of source, as required in fair usage, but rather pin his name to it all!

It is equally important to condemn the widely-published comments made by NPP regarding the latest arrival of Cuban doctors as highly hypocritical, irresponsible and disingenuous. The NPP government of John Kufuor was the first to ask for an increase in Cuban doctors in Ghana. On 24th July 2002, as reported by Ghanaweb, then Foreign Minister of the NPP government, Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, concluded negotiations in Havana, Cuba during the 11th Ghana-Cuba Permanent Joint Commission for Economic, Technical and Scientific Cooperation, under which the Cuban Medical Brigade in Ghana was to be increased from 148 to 200 doctors and also for 11 Professors to boost the Medical Faculty of the University of Development Studies. Further agreements were reached in discussions with no less a person than then Cuban President, Fidel Castro, for projects ”to assist Ghana to eradicate guinea worm, elephantiasis and Cerebro Spinal meningitis.” Additionally, “the meeting agreed on a private joint venture for the production of vaccines against hepatitis B, sugar production and salt mining. The Minister announced an increase in Cuban scholarships for Ghanaians to pursue science and related courses.” :

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=25923

From whence then, one may ask, this sudden turnabout by NPP in political posture and indulgence in politicization of the issue, when it knows very well that it had even sent a delegation to Cuba to negotiate for more Cuban doctors and other assistance to be given to Ghana during its two administrations? If there is blame to go around for the state of the healthcare system in Ghana and the the work conditions of Ghanaian doctors, both NDC and NPP receive an equal share.

Returning to the issue of the qualification of the Cuban doctors, anyone who lived in the post-Nkrumah years knows of the sickening prejudice that the forbears of the NPP encouraged against anything from the then Socialist bloc (of the USSR, Eastern Europe , China, Vietnam and Cuba). The military and political mercenaries, prostitutes and traitors, who at the behest and material inducement of well-known foreign sponsors overthrew Nkrumah went about their diabolical goal of dismantling everything good done by the Osagyefo. Besides abandoning critical industrial infrastructure and equipment, they also sought to humiliate and discriminate against those professionals trained in the socialist bloc countries. Thus medical doctors returning from an average of 8 years of training in the Eastern countries were made to undergo additional examinations and certification, while their counterparts trained in Western countries were accepted to practice right away without any such humiliation. It is nothing new for the enemies of the socialist camp to engage in propaganda and outright lies of all kinds, especially against Cuba, and it is nothing new for opportunists, mercenaries, and prostitutes of all kinds to likewise extend their services for this cause.

While Francis Tawiah lives in blissful ignorance in Germany, the patients of these hard-working Cuban doctors – mostly posted to remote, rural areas, where no Ghanaian doctor will be caught living or dead – are truly grateful for their care, the only one they receive during times of doctor strikes, and in the conflict-ridden locales in the North. The reputation of Cuban doctors is second to none in the world. The appropriate international medical bodies, journals such as the Lancet (UK), and institutions such as the WHO (UN), have all borne testimony, through objective, scientific appraisal, to the efficacy of Cuban doctors. It is also a strong testimony to their reputation that the United States, Cuba’s number one nemesis, has passed a law – known as CMPP (Cuban Medical Professional Parole) - that enables any Cuban doctor sent on missions abroad to defect and enter the United States!:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/16/cuban-docs-defect-little-known-immigration-program/

As of Dec. 16, 2011, according to the article above, 1,574 CMPP visas have been issued to Cuban doctors by U.S. consulates in 65 countries. Why would the US make such a law, if the Cuban doctors were substandard? On the contrary, Cuban doctors have an advantage in the sense that they are trained to function in both environments with modern diagnostic tools and those without - the typical Third World environment that suffers from a deficiency of those tools.

But the biggest rebuttal to "Dr Googleberg" Francis Tawia’s “copy and paste” propaganda job and his fellow political prostitutes around the globe is the announcement on 6th May 2013 by Brazil that it intends to hire 6000 Cuban doctors for its rural and remote areas as well as joint production of pharmaceuticals! :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22429101http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-22429101 As Brazil’s Foreign Minister, Antonio Patriota, declared: "Cuba is very proficient in the areas of medicine, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology and Brazil is considering receiving around 6,000 Cubans doctors or a little more." In spite of the whining of some right-wing circles in Brazil and one shameless, English-challenged, Ghanaian political prostitute in Germany, nothing more needs to be said!

Ano Nimo