Cuban medicine achieves over
95% heart surgery survival rate
October 9, 2015 (Granma News)
Cuba has achieved a heart surgery survival rate of over 95%, including
coronary and vascular operations and those linked to congenital heart
defects, a figure which places the island among the most advanced
countries in this field. The information was provided during the
Cardiovilla 2015 International Congress, which is being held in the
Euro Star Hotel in Cayo Santa María.
According to statements by Dr Eduardo Rivas, president of the
Cuban Society of Cardiology, the result corresponds to the will of
the Cuban government to improve the population’s quality of life,
together with the efforts of the existing cardio-surgical network
across the country.
He also revealed the excellent results in pediatric heart surgery, with a
high rate of effectiveness, as a result of early diagnosis of sick children,
with immediate intervention before the disease develops.
He stressed that heart disease remains one of the leading causes of
death in Cuba, hence the importance of the work carried out by the
600 doctors who make up the Society of Cardiology in combating
these conditions.
The president of the Cuban Society of Cardiology acknowledged the
work of the Comandante Ernesto Che Guevara Cardiology Center,
which hosted the event, an institution that has the best indicators of
the country in the majority of the measurable parameters in this field,
including a survival rate for vascular surgery of over 99%.
The event, which brings together cardiac surgeons and other
specialists, began on Thursday, October 8, and will continue until
Saturday morning. 278 delegates from 21 countries are attending,
to discuss various topics of interest related to the specialty, Dr. Raul
Dueñas, director of the Cardiology Center, based in Villa Clara,
explained.
Among the main topics to be addressed are cardiac and vascular
surgery, interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, cardiac imaging
and all areas relating to preventive care.
The event will also see the presentation of products from several
leading international firms in the manufacture of equipment and
supplies for the treatment of heart disease.
CELAC to Present First Joint
Agreement at a COP Meeting
November 2 ,2015 (TeleSUR English)
The 33 member countries of the Community of Latin American
and Caribbean States (CELAC) are set to agree on a joint position that
for the first time ever the bloc will present at a COP climate change
summit. The CELAC is meeting this week in Ecuador to discuss their
position to be presented in the upcoming COP21, also known as the
2015 Paris U.N. Climate Conference, officials said Monday.
The foreign and environment ministries of the regional organization
will meet on Thursday and Friday in the Ecuadorean capital Quito, to
elaborate the draft that will be presented in December in Paris, which
has been billed as the most important climate summit in history.
The meeting will take place at Union of South American Countries
(UNASUR) headquarters.
Latin America and the Caribbean are expected to play a very important
role at the COP21, since the region has over the past years shown a
strong commitment in forging very important global agreements to
address climate change.
The Bolivian city of Cochabamba last month held the Second World
People’s Conference on Climate Change, during which President Evo
Morales along with his colleagues from Ecuador, Rafael Correa, and
Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, agreed to speak for the “Pachamama,” or
Mother Earth, and civil society during the COP21 summit in Paris.
The three Latin American leaders also agreed to push forward the
creation of an agency for environmental justice, which will force the
most polluting countries in the world to recognize the damage they
have caused in other nations through exploitation of natural resources
and pollution. The proposal also includes the economic reparation for
damages caused by those nations.
The main goal of the COP21 meeting is to agree on ways of maintaining
global warming below the 2-degree-Celsius threshold, as well as to
implement viable solutions worldwide to combat the adverse effects of
global climate change.
Thousands of world leaders, high-level officials, experts and
representatives are expected to attend the summit in Paris, as well as
pressure groups. Massive protests are also expected to be carried out
during the summit which is scheduled to last 12 days.
Venezuelan Housing Mission Builds
100,000 Homes in 10 Months
October 20, 2015 (TeleSUR English)
The Venezuelan government's housing mission has constructed
nearly 100,000 new homes since the start of the year, according to
figures released Tuesday.
The mission has now constructed a total of 752,585 housing units,
Housing Minister Manuel Quevedo said. In January the ministry
put the number of completed housing units at just under 676,000,
suggesting the government is building an average of more than 200
units each day.
“At this rate, 1 million people will be provided with homes by the end of 2015,” Quevedo said.
One of the Venezuelan government's most popular social initiatives, the
housing mission was first launched to provide shelter for people who lost
their homes in devastating floods that hit the country in 2010. However,
since then, the mission has expanded to provide low-cost housing to the
wider population, with poor families receiving priority. Units are generally
provided fully furnished. The houses are offered either for free or at a low
cost, depending on the means of the prospective owners.
In 2011, then-President Hugo Chavez explained that the mission would
address the “social debt” left behind by former governments that failed to
provide quality housing to all Venezuelans.
The current administration of President Nicolas Maduro has vowed to
continue expanding the mission, aiming to provide low-cost housing to
40 percent of Venezuelans by the end of the decade.
