IMD workers recognized
Havana, December 9 (JIT)-- A large group of workers of the Institute of Sports Medicine (IMD) received today recognition for their outstanding uninterrupted work for more than 30 years in defense of the health of athletes and people in general.
The ceremony, held at the Hall of Mirrors of the Museum of the Revolution in the Cuban capital, was presided over by the head of Inder Osvaldo Vento Montiller and its first vice-president Raúl Fornés Valenciano.
"Since December 1, 1966, scientific development for the defense of the achievements of sports in Cuba has been a premise of the Institute of Sports Medicine," said its director Dr. Pablo Castillo Diaz, for the founding of the IMD 55 years ago.
"Throughout these 55 years our workers have starred in pages of patriotism and dedication, putting their social duty before personal interest," he stressed. "We end a 2021 full of challenges and challenges: the pandemic, the intensification of the U.S. blockade, the difficult and adverse economic conditions," he added.
"But our professionals stepped up and said present to the call of the homeland. All this without ceasing to generate, promote, support and develop research projects to improve the development of Cuban sports medicine," he emphasized before congratulating those present and all the colleagues of the network of Provincial Sports Centers, known by the acronym CEPROMEDE.
Dr. Eugenio Antonio Rodríguez Leal spoke on behalf of his colleagues about more than five decades of service to the people from two of the greatest achievements of the Revolution, sports and health.
His colleague Felix Quintero Espinosa summed it up in words to JIT "It is an honor to receive this recognition from what we are, children of this society of humble men and women who also do science."
"Having worked with many of them who are living legends of Cuban sports medicine and also receiving the tribute confirms to me that what I learned from them has been reverted into more health for our athletes, colleagues, family," said Yasmín Torres López, a graduate in nursing and master's degree in medical emergencies.
Among the honorees were top doctors, psychologists, paramedics and members of the well-known triads that have made Cuban sports medicine an international reference, as well as experts from the Havana Anti-Doping Laboratory.
There were Luis Gustavo González Carballido, president of the Sports Psychology Section of the Cuban Society of Psychology, Dr. Sofía Alberta León Peláez, recipient of the Carlos Juan Finlay Order, and from the new batch, Dr. Julio Ordoqui Baldriche, psychologist of the boxing team Domadores de Cuba, and the graduate in nursing and deputy director of medical assistance of the IMD, Ania Lubia Montalvo Pimentel, who played a decisive role in the anti-covid-19 vaccination process of the delegation attending the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
Also specialists of the stature of Dr. Osvaldo Barba Ramos, head of medical control at the Escuela Superior de Formación de Atletas de Alto Rendimiento Giraldo Córdova Cardín and his colleague Manuel Almira Moragas, who has been six times in the red zone in the fight against the pandemic, among others.
The evening was enlivened by vocalist Clave de Sol.
