Cuban Health Minister Presides at Graduation of Nurses

Cuban Health Minister Presides at Graduation of Nurses
(Taken from Ahora)

Cuban Health Minister Jose Ramon Balaguer said on Tuesday in Havana that to improve the population's quality of life is the main objective of the public health system and that depends on the knowledge and training of the sector's personnel.

During the second graduation of the Salvador Allende Nursing School in Havana, the official congratulated the 1,458 students graduating, of whom 819 are women, and urged them to strive to become ever bettering in their vocation.

Human solidarity is one of the fundamentals of the Cuban Revolution and the men and women that are part of the health system are admired and respected in the world, said the Minister during an activity in the institution.

"You have selected an extraordinary career and the Cuban people should feel satisfied with this graduation," said the island's Health Minister who pointed out that over 87 percent of those graduating received the grades of excellent or very good, meaning a better quality of service for the population.

Luisa Fernandez Garcia, Director of the School, pointed out that this is the fourth group of nurses trained in Havana since September 2001. This is part of a special program of the Revolution involving the rapid training of nurses as a response to the deficit of the personnel and in 2003 there were over 1,500.

The newly graduated nurses will join the 65 health institutions in Havana where they did their residency in primary, secondary and tertiary practices, elevating the quality of services.

The nurses graduating have the chance to continue in higher education in the specialty, while the 12 top students can opt for careers in medicine, dentistry, biology or microbiology, among others.