WHO praises Cuba's health care system

Havana, March 28 (IANS) Cuba's health care system has a lot to teach the world, the deputy head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

Anarfi Asamoa-Baah said he was impressed by the nation's "well integrated" health care system at all levels -- a model for other countries to emulate.

Asamoa-Baah is part of a visiting delegation of health experts to attend the agency's first meeting of regional directors in Havana, Xinhua reported Tuesday.

They will meet with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Thursday and tour the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in Havana.

Asamoa-Baah praised the fact that all Cubans have free access to high-quality, high-tech health services and applauded the country's ongoing campaigns to eradicate communicable diseases.

He lauded the work of Cuban health care workers in over 32 countries and the medical training offered by Cuban universities to thousands of students from around the world.

The WHO experts expressed particular interest in Cuba's biotech industry, which has developed vaccines to fight cancer and other diseases, and Cuban medical products are marketed in over 40 countries.

On Friday, the group will attend the closing ceremony of the Congress of Geriatrics and Gerontology.

Advanced universal health care and education in Cuba are two of the main achievements of the Socialist Revolution launched in 1959 by former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.