Pakistani president bids farewell to Cuban Medical Mission

TEXT AND PHOTOS BY JUVENAL BALAN NEYRA —Special for Granma daily—

"YOUR example will endure in the hearts of the Pakistani people and it is with great sadness that I bid farewell to you now," said General Pervez Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, to Bruno Rodríguez, deputy foreign minister and head of the Cuban State Mission here, during a meeting held at the presidential headquarters, in which other leaders of the island’s medical brigade also took part.

Musharraf also thanked the Cuban people and President Fidel Castro Ruz for the solidarity assistance, the donation of 32 fully-equipped field hospitals, as well as the offer of 1,000 scholarships to study medicine for low-income young people from the regions affected by the earthquake.

For his part, Bruno Rodríguez presented President Musharraf with the results of the work carried out by the Henry Reeve International Contingent during its seven-month stay in the regions most affected by the earthquake that occurred on October 8, 2005.

He said that Cuban doctors had seen 1,743,244 patients, of whom 856,268 were women and 802,282 had received on-the-spot treatment. Some 14,506 operations were carried out, 10,683 patients were admitted to hospitals and 166,262 received physiotherapy and rehabilitation treatment.

The head of the Cuban State Mission also thanked President Musharraf for the opportunity afforded by his country to Cuba to offer its solidarity and get to know the modest and appreciative people of Pakistan.