• Submitted by: lena campos
• Health and Medicine
• 07 / 14 / 2012

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Continuing a trend of wealthier donor nations funding Cuban healthcare expertise for developing countries, Norway signed an agreement July 12 with the Cuban government under which the Scandinavian country provides $800,000 for healthcare services in Haiti.

This is Norway’s third agreement with Cuba to fund medical aid in the two-and-half years since an earthquake struck Haiti. The two first installments both came in 2010; Norway’s contributions under the three-way cooperation now total $2.5 million.

The tri-party arrangement is “a way of investing money efficiently in a needy country,” said Ambassador John Pette Opdahl, according to Prensa Latina.

Opdahl signed at the Ministry of Foreign Trade (MINCEX) in Havana.

Norway’s third installment covers part of the expenses of the Cuban medical brigade for work mostly in the South of Haiti, according to embassy spokesman Iver Williksen. The tasks of the brigade include rebuilding the local healthcare system and controlling cholera, which has struck hundreds of thousands of Haitians.

Meanwhile, a cholera outbreak in Eastern Cuba that has killed at least three elderly Cubans is under control, according to officials.

Cuba is also working in Haiti under an $80 million Brazilian-funded program for the reconstruction of the Haitian healthcare system. That program covers construction of four hospitals and purchase of equipment.

Source: CubaStandard.com