Cuban anti-cholera vaccine for Mozambique
• Announces the minister of foreign business and cooperation for that African nation during a three-day stay in Cuba, during which she visited the Finlay Institute, where many vaccines are produced

BY RAISA PAGES —Granma International staff writer—

MOZAMBIQUE is to begin using an anti-cholera vaccine developed at the Finlay Institute, according to Alcinda Antonio de Abreu, minister of foreign business and cooperation for that country, who spoke with Granma International just before ending a three-day visit to Cuba.

The minister explained that in the future, immunization campaigns using other products from that Cuban scientific center could be undertaken against malaria, tuberculosis and other endemic diseases.

De Abreu visited the Finlay Institute, where she learned about programs being underway to confront serious health problems in developing countries. That scientific center organized an Africa Day celebration, an event demonstrating the cooperative relations between Cuba and that continent.

Included in the agreements of the 15th session of the Joint Intergovernmental Cuba-Mozambique Commission is cooperation on immunization programs using Cuban vaccines.

The Mozambican foreign minister said that one of the greatest challenges her country faces is to eliminate poverty and raise education and health levels. A delegation from that country was in Cuba for three days, invited by Foreign Minister Felipe Pérez Roque.

The Mozambican economy, De Abreu noted, is growing at an accelerated pace, with an average 7% growth rate. That nation possesses almost eight times the territory of Cuba, and has a population of more than 18 million. As a developing country, one of the problems faced by government programs to reduce poverty is the lack of financial resources. That is why conditions are being created for increased foreign investment, De Abreu explained in her interview with Granma International.

Almost 8,000 Mozambicans have been trained as professionals and technicians in Cuba, via cooperative relations based on friendship and solidarity maintained between the two countries, the minister commented.

During the Havana meeting – along with those mentioned above – agreements were reached in the areas of fishing, sports, tourism and labor. In addition, cooperation was extended in other areas such as radio, television and physical planning.

De Abreu noted that peace and security now reign in her country, and brought a message of greetings from the Political Commission of the Mozambican Liberation Front (FRELIMO) to her meeting with Fernando Remírez de Estenoz, head of the International Relations Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.

De Estenoz recalled that the historic relations between the two peoples date back to the triumph of the Cuban Revolution and the struggle for the liberation of Mozambique. That country has historically taken a principled position against the US economic, commercial and financial blockade against Cuba.

While signing the documents of the 15th Joint Commission, Marta Lomas, Cuban minister for foreign investment and economic cooperation, affirmed that those documents honored 30 years of relations with Mozambique.

The two countries established diplomatic relations on June 25, 1975, and in 1977 cooperation was established, which signified the presence in that African nation of some 5,000 Cuban volunteers to the end of 2004, mostly in health and education.