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Hisham Aljundi
Doha
THE Cuban Hospital in Qatar has witnessed a manifold increase in patient numbers in the last few years and even patients from neighbouring countries are visiting the hospital to seek treatment, said Cuban Ambassador to Qatar HE Eumelio Caballero Rodriguez.
The ambassador said that in 2017 alone, 74,331 visits were registered, while the total number of inpatients during the same period was 4,576.
"Although the trade volume between Qatar and Cuba is still small, but there are other fields in which the two sides have developed cooperation, and the most significant of these is the Cuban Hospital," he said.
He added that the hospital today renders world-class services by more than 460 Cuban health professionals. The facility was originally conceived to cater to the need of locals living in the vicinity, but now it receives an increasing number of Qatari citizens, expatriates and members of the diplomatic community who travel from Doha and other distant places to be treated by Cuban doctors.
"The hospital provides services in more than 25 specialties, including dental, ophthalmology, medical and surgical services inside the outpatient department," he said. Rodriguez said that bariatric surgery is one of the most recently introduced services, with 176 cases last year, and the demand is permanently increasing.
"I have to underline that the Cuban Hospital, which is the jewel of the existing cooperation between Cuba and Qatar, has become a reference medical centre in the entire Gulf region, receiving several awards from international institutions for excellence in medical care," added Rodriguez.
The health sector, to which the Qatar government accords high priority, constitutes one of the areas in which cooperation between Cuba and Qatar is growing in a significant manner.
Qatar benefits from Cuban expertise in biotechnology and other disciplines related to health. These offer many possibilities for both countries to continue advancing through the commercialisation of innovative products manufactured in Cuba for diabetes, cancer treatment and other illnesses.
Joint scientific research and production of medicines for the local market and large-scale export to other countries may benefit Qatar by becoming an important source of income in the near future, the ambassador said.
