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Cuban Medicine

Why is Cuba developing a new pneumococcal vaccine?

Why is Cuba developing a new pneumococcal vaccine?
The mere fact of being able to tell Cuban families that a new, effective and safe Cuban pneumococcal vaccine will soon be available, work on which has been advancing since 2006, is already more than just “good news.”

Author: Lisandra Fariñas Acosta | lisandra@granma.cu
february 7, 2018 13:02:07

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The new vaccine is another guarantee of the well-being of Cuban children. Photo: Ariel Cecilia Lemus
The mere fact of being able to tell Cuban families that a new, effective and safe Cuban pneumococcal vaccine will soon be available, work on which has been advancing since 2006, is already more than just “good news.”

It’s a comforting thought, “after so many years of development of this vaccine candidate, which includes seven serotypes in a single vaccine and, therefore, it is as if we were developing seven vaccines in one. This singularity has made preclinical demonstrations, the pharmaceutical development and clinical demonstration more complex,” Darielys Santana Mederos, biochemistry graduate and general coordinator of the Finlay Institute’s pneumococcal project, told Granma at the recently concluded Cuban Pediatrics Congress, Pediatría 2018.

According to the expert, following the introduction in the country of vaccines against Haemophilus influenzae and meningococci, pneumococcus is now the fundamental pathogen to cause pneumonia and bacterial meningitis in Cuban children. “Therefore, prevention with a vaccine against pneumococci would have a significant impact on reducing the incidence of bacterial pneumonia and meningitis in this population,” she added.

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Cuba Palestine

Regional Congress of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine concludes in Havana

Regional Congress of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine concludes in Havana
The recently concluded Congress was held as a prelude to the seventh National Congress, which will take place in April in Lebanon

Author: Ernesto J. Gómez Figueredo | internet@granma.cu
january 30, 2018 10:01:01

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Photo: Granma
With a greeting to all progressive and left forces of the Americas, and after two days of work, the Regional Congress of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) concluded yesterday in the Cuban capital.

The gathering was held as a prelude to the seventh National Congress, which will take place in April in Lebanon, and attended by Palestinians from across the American continent.

Topics of vital importance for the Palestinian cause were discussed, the documents pending approval by the Central Congress of the DFLP were debated, and the 12 direct delegates to the national event were selected.

Fahd Suleiman, DFLP deputy secretary-general explained the selection of Cuba as the venue for this important gathering for the Palestinian cause.

“Cuba is a country friendly to the Palestinian people and cause, so it was natural that it be selected to host the meeting,” he said.

“There are a lot of Palestinians living in this continent. We are a people that fight for their national liberation, the restoration of their 1967 borders, the return of refugees to their homeland and precisely in the framework of these conditions it was decided to hold this event in Havana, to send a message from here to U.S. President Donald Trump,” he added.

The official criticized the alliance and cooperation between the United States and Israel, which openly occupies Palestinian land and divides the people by creating settlements.

“The Palestinian territory is the patrimony of its people and Jerusalem is the capital of our state,” he stressed, in reference to the Trump administration’s recognition of the holy city as the capital of Israel.

On behalf of the DFLP, Suleiman also condemned the U.S. decision to move its Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

“These decisions defy International Law, UN resolutions and human rights, despite public opinion and the rejection of the international community,” he emphasized.

The official stressed that negotiations with the Israeli government have been stalled since April 2014, and noted that the central council of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) decided that Washington can no longer act as a mediator between the two states.

Meanwhile, Rosario Pentón, rector of the Ñico López Advanced Studies School of the Communist Party of Cuba, where the Regional Congress met, expressed that this is a crucial moment for the Palestinian people, as they face voracious and rapacious imperialist moves.

Pentón ratified the revolutionary, pro-independence and internationalist vocation of Cuba and the unconditional support of this people for the Palestinian cause.

The closing ceremony was also attended by the Ambassador of Palestine to Cuba, Akram Samhan, the Ambassador of Venezuela to Cuba, Alí Rodríguez, the Deputy Head of the Party Central Committee International Relations Department, Juan Carlos Marsán, and Hero of the Republic of Cuba, Fernando González, president of the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP).

Equestrian statue of José Martí

From New York to Havana Equestrian statue of José Martí

Equestrian statue of José Martí officially unveiled
Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and President of the Councils of State and Ministers, presided during the commemoration of the 165th anniversary of the national hero’s birth, January 28

Author: Madeleine Sautié | informacion@granma.cu
january 29, 2018 12:01:47

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Photo: Jose M. Correa

To commemorate the 165th anniversary of the birth of José Martí, Cuba’s national hero, officially unveiled in Havana’s 13 de Marzo Park was a replica of the equestrian statue sculpted by Anna Hyatt Huntington, that since 1965 honors him in New York City. Army General Raúl Castro Ruz, first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee and President of the Councils of State and Ministers, presided the event, January 28, with the participation of members of the Party Political Bureau and the Council of State, government authorities, representatives from the New York mayor’s office, the Bronx Museum, and U.S. citizens who contributed to the project’s realization.

José Martí saw in necessary death the uplifting and triumph of life, and spoke of the need to die for good, in order to continue living. This was perhaps the aura of the tribute in which Cuba’s most universal citizen was evoked by those who spoke of him as having become immortal given his extraordinary dimensions.

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Raúl attended the ceremony, along with other distinguished Cuban leaders. Photo: Jose M. Correa
Speaking in the name of the Bronx Museum of Art, the prestigious institution that guided the project, and its recently deceased director Holly Block, was the institution’s administrative board chairman Joseph Mizzi, who said it was an honor to attend the ceremony to present the statue to the Cuban people.

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Cuba Safest Travel Destination

Cuba Wins Excelencias Award as Safest Travel Destination 18-01-2018

From: Bob Guild [mailto:bguild@marazul.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2018 11:45 AM
To: Martha Honey <mhoney@responsibletravel.org>
Subject: RE FITUR 2018 – Madrid Spain CUBA wins award as Safest Travel Destination at International Tourism Fair

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Cuba Wins Excelencias Award as Safest Travel Destination 18-01-2018

Cuba has won the Excelencias Award as the safest country for tourism at the International Tourism Fair Fitur 2018, which is unfolding in Madrid through January 21.

The award was received by the Cuban minister of the industry, Manuel Marrero, who heads the island’s delegation to that event, reported Gustavo Machin, Cuban Ambassador to Spain, in his Twitter account.

The delegation from the Caribbean country is made up of executives from the main hotel chains, as well as the associates Melia Hotels, Iberostar, Blue Diamond, among others. Also participating are the top business management organizations Viajes Cuba and Cubasol.

Inaugurated this Wednesday by the Spanish monarchs Felipe VI and Letizia, the fair is attended by European and Canadian tour operators and there is a strong presence of Latin American delegations. In total, more than 10,000 companies participate and it is expected that the visits will reach 250,000 people.

The list of exhibitors (from 165 countries) reaches 816, eight percent above the 2017 version, with a 13 percent increase in foreign participation, which represents 54 percent of the total. Source: Prensa Latina

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