Havana, December 3 (RHC)-- Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez recognized Thursday health professionals and their efforts to save lives in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, celebrated on the occasion of Latin American Medicine Day December 3.

The Foreign Affairs minister stressed on Twitter the commitment and humanistic vocation of the sector in a context where the health crisis due to the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus demands the most extraordinary effort.

"The dedication and humanistic vocation of our health professionals save lives in a context where the pandemic demands the greatest of efforts," he wrote.

On the same media platform, the Vice President of the Republic, Salvador Valdés Mesa, described 2020 as a challenging year for the world's doctors.

"Our professionals have demonstrated to be up to the challenge imposed by the pandemic, a gift to the memory of the historical leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro," he said.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Public Health, Jose Angel Portal, extended his gratitude to the workers and students of the sector, who "full of professionalism, altruism and solidarity, have not ceased in their efforts to win the battle against Covid-19," he said.

For his part, Deputy Prime Minister Roberto Morales also congratulated on Twitter the "worthy heirs of the legacy of Carlos Juan Finlay, generous defenders of health and life, winners of pain and death," as Fidel Castro expressed.

On December 3, Cuba celebrates the Day of Latin American Medicine and Health Workers, in homage to the birth of scientist Carlos Juan Finlay (1833-1915). He discovered the agent that transmits yellow fever: the Aedes aegypti mosquito.

Finlay devoted all his life to solving the great problems of the epidemiological situation in Cuba of his time.