The European Union and France on Thursday granted 5.6 million euros in funding to Cuba to improve diagnosis, surveillance and research into infectious diseases.
Read alsoFaced with Covid-19, the Cuban health system collapsed
This sum
"will make it possible to strengthen the capacities of laboratories in parasitology, virology, bacteriology and ecology", as well as "to create a laboratory of advanced technologies for the diagnosis and research on infectious diseases"
, declared on this occasion the ambassador. from France to Cuba, Patrice Paoli. He explained that over the past two years, his country had contributed 24.4 million euros to strengthening three health institutions in Cuba.
But, due to the pandemic caused by the coronavirus, they had to reallocate resources to notably buy 66 respirators, 180,000 personal protective equipment and a million tests.
"The Covid crisis has put Franco-Cuban cooperation to the test
,
"
said the ambassador before signing the financing agreement with Rodrigo Malmierca, Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade.
Read also Cuba, exile at all costs
Cuba, which has developed its own vaccines against Covid-19, has also strengthened its network of detection laboratories throughout its territory during the pandemic.
Populated by 11.2 million inhabitants, the island has 963,428 cases of this disease and 8,311 people have died from it.
Currently, 83% of the Cuban population is fully vaccinated.