Gambia’s Minister of Health, Dr. Ahmadou Lamin Samateh, has made a working visit to Cuba which was described as very fruitful, with the purpose of expanding the historic collaboration in the health sector between the two sister countries.
During his stay in Havana last week, Dr. Samateh and the delegation that accompanied him, including his permanent secretary, Adama Drammeh, and the new Gambian Ambassador of this African nation in the Caribbean Island, Seyaka Sonko, carried out an extensive programme that included various meetings and tours of scientific institutions and health care centres.
His counterpart from the largest of the Antilles, José Ángel Portal Miranda, and several of his officials received the Gambian Minister and his delegation during a meeting in which they discussed increasing bilateral cooperation with new initiatives of mutual benefit. They also held a positive meeting with the directors of the Central Unit of Medical Collaboration (UCCM), in charge of the Cuban Brigades of doctors, graduates and technicians who cure and save lives in numerous countries in Africa and other continents.
Dr. Samateh and his delegation visited the very relevant and prestigious Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (CIGB), where they learned first-hand from their hosts about famous medicines produced in the largest of the Antilles, including Heberprot-P, the only drug in the world for the effective healing of deep and complex neuropathic and ischemic diabetic foot ulcers.
Heberprot-P, already applied in various nations, accelerates the progressive and sustained healing of ulcers, a very common ailment in African countries, and reduces the risk of amputations in the lower limbs. Good omens are expected for Cuba-Gambia health collaboration, which dates back almost three decades and currently, more than a hundred professionals from the Island provide their healthcare services here, in addition to professors who train new generations at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Banjul.
