(twitter.com/CubaUNESCO)  Cuban doctors have been sent to several countries around the world to help fight the coronavirus

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has recognized Cuba’s role in scientific and medical diplomacy in the Latin American and Caribbean region.  The acknowledgment was made  in a UNESCO report presented in the context of celebrations for World Science Day for Peace and Development. The Cubaminrex site in an information released in Paris, France, highlights that “Cuba is one of the countries with the longest experience in scientific and medical diplomacy in the region based on an advanced biotechnology industry and a robust health system,” the report emphasizes, according to Cuba media.  The report recognizes the international prestige and political capital earned by Cuba in this area and highlights that “since 1963 the country has sent more than 400,000 medical professionals in 164 missions to countries in Africa, America, the Middle East and Asia, in addition to providing humanitarian aid in cases of catastrophes, emergencies and epidemics such as Ebola and more recently COVID-19 ”.

“Cuba is one of the countries with the longest experience in scientific and medical diplomacy in the region based on an advanced biotechnology industry and a robust health system,”

-the  Cuban Foreign Ministry’s website noted. 

Reconoce informe regional de la @UNESCO liderazgo de #Cuba🇨🇺en materia de cooperación científica.

Más información vía @CubaMINREX https://t.co/xkxJjAK9hb#CubaSalvaVidas pic.twitter.com/kMO6vyvGxd

— Cancillería de Cuba (@CubaMINREX) November 12, 2020

🔴Destaca Informe UNESCO presentado en el #DíaMundialdelasCienciasParaelDesarrollo, labor de 🇨🇺
"Cuba es uno de los países con mayor trayectoria en diplomacia científica y médica de la región basada en una avanzada industria biotecnológica y un robusto sistema de salud" pic.twitter.com/8hgNYgvmyP

— MisiónCubaUnesco (@CubaUNESCO) November 11, 2020

Cuban Medical Diplomacy Is Crucial Source of Currency For Socialist Government 

Cuba currently provides medical cooperation in 37 countries that report COVID-19. This is nothing new, as Cuban physicians are already known around the globe.   Since the 1960s,  Cuba’s  doctors and medical specialists have provided multiple  developing nations badly need health care.   Cubans deployed 37,000 doctors in 77 countries, as of 2015 according to a study by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.  Medical services comprise Cuba’s largest  export, bringing in some  $6.5 billion   — twice as much as tourism — in 2018. 

Cuba has sent some 50 medical brigades, made up of more than 3,000 health workers, to combat COVID-19 in nations of Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean.   Various international organizations have publicly supported the candidacy of the Henry Reeve International Contingent for the Nobel Peace Prize for this work.