Amada revealed that she likes to lunch on rice and chicken with soup, vegetables and fruit. Other times, it’s a piece of roast pork. Those are her preferred dishes, which she prepares with a seasoning of garlic, onion, peppers and coriander. She likes to have a solid lunch, without overdoing it. And at 7:30 p.m., she eats slices of bread and ham with coffee. She doesn’t take a nap; rather, she is always doing something in the kitchen. Although she retired in 1971 from the shirt factory where she used to work, she is always looking for something to do around the house.

Super-centenarian Juana Moreno is one of the veterans who takes short strolls through the Havana neighborhood of Santos Suárez to say hello to her friends. Her sister Isabel is 106. Her favorite food is milk, although she also likes other normal food, as she says.

The teacher, Eduardo, who still works with students, seemed to be very impressed with the mood of the centenarians who accompanied him, and commented that "I came in here aged 104, and now I’m 70. We have to pay a lot of attention to this care that the doctors are giving us." His words were met by an ovation from the audience that filled the Taganana Room at the Hotel Nacional, where the event was held.

Eduardo is one of the centenarians who walks several kilometers a day and, as he affirms, lives a very ordered life, given that he neither smokes nor drinks alcoholic beverages. And his diet has been a balanced one. "My physical and mental state demonstrate it," he affirms.

Amada felt very comfortable at being in the Hotel Nacional, which she was never able to enter before the triumph of the Revolution, given that Black people were not admitted there.

Cordobés, world champion swimmer in the masters’ category (90-95 years), told Granma International that this year he is to travel to Brazil to participate in a competition of seniors. He reiterated that he has been swimming in the sea for 80 years, although he has to train for competitions in a swimming pool, which he finds boring.

In response to a question by a Spanish expert, he said that he practiced swimming without trying to classify, and it is now, when he is more than 90 years old, that he has competed in Costa Rica and Italy, where he won several medals and the world championship.

Like the other longevous individuals, he expressed his gratitude for the efforts of Cuban geriatrists, who give specialized attention to centenarians and to older adults in general.

Finally, Doctor Guido, World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Cuba, described the gathering as moving and a cause for optimism. She recommended recording the life stories of the centenarians, and offered help from the WHO to that end. She expressed that the way in which centenarians are treated in Cuba gives an example to the world.

Doctor Enrique Vega read out the conclusions of the 1st International Centenarians Conference, held in Havana last February, which reiterates that longevity depends on genetic and environmental factors, and only hereditary for a limited one percent.

Scientific evidence proves the link between the increased frequency of super-centenarians (those older than 110) and people who have lived beyond 120 years. It is also affirmed that people who reach – exceptionally, still – that age are more dependent in terms of their health and functioning on the endogenic aspects of aging than traditional risk factors.

They predict that by 2050, the world will have nearly 400 million people over the age of 80, when only 100 years earlier, that number was only 13 million.

They report that research on centenarians is scant, and that less than a dozen groups are working on such research throughout the world.

Meanwhile, the experts affirm that no special diet has been consistently related to living longer, although healthy and integral nutrition in general has been.

A consensus exists on the importance of physical activity, but they alert that for advanced ages, such activity should be based on the individual, requiring a previous examination by qualified personnel, to avoid negative consequences.

A fourth international conference of centenarians has been called for May 16-20, 2006.

The representatives of UN agencies and the Pan-American Health Organization acknowledged the success of the Cuban public health system during the opening of the 3rd International Conference on Satisfactory Longevity, attended by scientists from 10 nations.

Serguey Zelenev, head of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), affirmed during a master lecture that Cuba is an example of how the economy and social aspects may be related to the benefit of longevity. The speaker stressed the necessary living conditions for older adults, including adequate nutrition, physical exercise, culture, a favorable environment, motivation and appropriate and timely medical attention. He noted that malnutrition increases the risk of common diseases, an affirmation supported by other speakers.

On analyzing the longevity issue in Latin America, Doctor Martha Peláez, regional advisor for aging and health for the Pan-American Health Organization, recalled that some years ago, the UN called attention to the changed paradigm needed by society, in the context of older people continuing to participate actively in life. And to consider what we can all do to live all of those years that we can.

She noted that during the 1940s, the life expectancy rate did not exceed 50 years, but that it has increased in line with scientific advances. She added that at the ages of 60, 80 or 90, one must make a great effort to keep in shape physically and to remain socially active, because society still has not learned to compensate and create natural spaces for older adults to continue living in a useful way.

After highlight the efforts in Cuba for older adults, she emphasized that "it is important to us to measure how one reaches an advanced age, not just that we get there."

Dr. Peláez announced that in the year 2000, two million people in the Americas had reached the age of 90 or more, and that it is projected for the years 20-50 of this century that some 14 million people on the continent will live to be 90. Of those, 689,000 will live to 100. "We have a long way to go," she affirmed.

A broad picture of medical care in Cuba was provided by Doctor José Ramón Balaguer, minister of public health, who during his master’s lecture highlighted the program to modernize hospitals, polyclinics and other medical centers. He affirmed that today in Cuba, there are 69,713 physicians, with 47.4% of them working as family doctors.

He pointed out the internationalist character of the island’s medical personnel, and announced that during the present year, more than 1,500 students will graduate from the Latin American School of Medicine.

Balaguer also explained that in Cuba, there are 434 multidisciplinary groups for geriatric care, and more than 710,000 elderly people who are members of senior citizen centers. He added that a primary care system is being implemented to prioritize disease prevention and patient rehabilitation.

Cuba is showing that a lot can be done with few resources in public health, he stated.

Alberto Juantorena, the outstanding Cuban athlete and current vice president of INDER, offered an enjoyable lecture on the development of the sports movement in Cuba, which more than winning medals at international competitions, seeks to make sports practiced in a mass way in order to contribute to the Cuban people’s health.

During the second day of activities, the delegates are to consider what may be done to develop intelligence beginning early in life; motivating via pyschoballet and gardening; roundtable discussions on asthma, hypertension, obesity and diabetes, and other issues.