By María Josefina Arce

Gratitude is the feeling that prevails in Calabria for Cuba's health aid to that region of southern Italy, where health professionals from the Caribbean nation have been working since 2022 and currently number more than 270.

Over the course of this month, the Medical Brigade will grow with the incorporation of another 70 specialists in emergencies, gynecology, orthopedics, cardiology and pediatrics.

At the request of the Calabrian authorities, the Cuban workers arrived, given the health crisis that that Italian territory was going through. In the last two decades, 18 of its 42 hospitals had stopped providing services due to lack of personnel.

The absence of more than two thousand health workers threatened the closure of other hospital institutions and emergency units.

The Italian people already know of the dedication and professionalism of Cuban doctors, who helped confront COVID19, when the north of the European country became the world epicenter of the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

Great was the gratitude of the citizens and authorities who highlighted the bravery, dedication and sacrifice of the Cuban doctors, who did not hesitate to provide their help and overcame their own fears in the face of a new disease that was ravaging the world.

In Calabria, Cubans are also making a difference. They are present in 27 hospitals in its five provinces. Until the end of last year, they had carried out more than 104 THOUSAND consultations in internal medicine, pediatrics and gynecology, among other specialties.

Cuba has extensive experience in medical cooperation with other nations. This beautiful story of solidarity began to be written in the 1960s, when the first specialists arrived in Algeria and worked in that African country for a year.

Specialists from the Greater Antilles have gone to various latitudes to put their knowledge at the service of other people affected by natural disasters such as earthquakes, or in emergencies due to the outbreak of diseases such as Ebola in West Africa.

And although the enemies of the Cuban revolution try to distort medical cooperation; the truth prevails. The gratitude and recognition of people and governments for the work of Cuban health professionals speaks for itself of the impact of solidarity aid and its humanistic essence.