The government of Colombia and that of its capital donated three thousand square centimeters of skin to Cuba on Tuesday as a gesture of solidarity to help in the recovery of patients affected by the fire Super tanker base in the industrial zone of the city of Matanzas.

In a symbolic act, the delivery took place, with the presence of the Minister of Health of Colombia, Carolina Corcho; the Cuban ambassador, Javier Caamaño; the director of the District Institute of Science, Biotechnology and Innovation in Health (IDCBIS) Bernardo Camacho; the District Secretary of Health of Bogotá, Alejandro Gómez, as well as scientists and others.

In statements to Prensa Latina, the Minister of Health recalled that the Cuban people and government have always had a respectful solidarity with Colombia, as it is in the peace process.

"Of course, as soon as we learned of the Matanzas tragedy, we mobilized resources, from our scientific knowledge to be able to support the Cuban people with which we can collaborate.

"We want this to be the opportunity to start a dialogue with the scientific world in Cuba that has built a sanitary, pharmaceutical, research sovereignty so that we can share knowledge," she said.

She assured that they also want to achieve a sanitary sovereignty that allows their country to produce vaccines, medicines, generate knowledge and science, topics on which there is a great learning of the Cuban scientific community.

For his part, Ambassador Caamaño, on behalf of the people and government of Cuba, expressed his gratitude for this humanitarian gesture by the District Health Secretariat and the Colombian Government as a contribution of brotherhood for the people who suffered burns during the fire at the Base de supertankers.

"Beyond the material aid, very important from the point of view of the medical treatment that this means, it has great symbolism because just since the fire started, even before coming to power on August 7, the current authorities were in contact with us and expressing their solidarity," said the diplomat.

As another gesture of humanism, the ambassador highlighted that, once this donation was known, members of the Association of Cuban Residents in Colombia and the Movement of Solidarity with Cuba expressed their interest in financing the shipment.

However, "the airline Copa and Wingo, which is his associate, made the decision to cover, also as a donation, the shipment of this skin for our patients in Cuba," the ambassador stressed.

He stressed that one of the promoters of this initiative to send skin to the island in the face of the large-scale disaster in the city of Matanzas was the Cuban doctor residing in this country, Reimundo Llanes, who is part of the board of directors of the Public Colombian Health Association.

Photo: Taken from Prensa Latina

It is an expression of solidarity on behalf of the National Government and Bogotá, for the people who have suffered this tragedy in Cuba.

"Given this fact in the country, particularly in Matanzas, we managed to activate and mobilize solidarity and resources from the Association and entities of the district and national government to precisely contribute to this situation," the doctor told Prensa Latina.

The Idcbis currently has the only multipurpose Tissue Bank in Colombia, which favors access to the most vulnerable population with transplant requirements.

On August 5 in the city of Matanzas, capital of the province of the same name in western Cuba, a fire broke out at the Supertanker Base caused by the impact of an electrical discharge on a 50 thousand cubic meter fuel tank, sinister that spread to three other similar deposits, all destroyed in the event.

“It is an expression of solidarity on behalf of the National Government and Bogotá, for the people who have suffered this tragedy in Cuba (…) We have received and learned a lot from Cuba and it is only natural that today we stand in solidarity with this tragedy,” said the Secretary of Health, Alejandro Gómez.

For his part, the director of the IDCBIS, Bernardo Camacho, affirmed that "in addition to expressing the generosity and international solidarity of this donation with the tragedy, it is the recognition of the high quality and trust that we have in the District Tissue Bank of the IDCBIS to distribute to burn patients who need it for their recovery.

These tissues were rescued from Colombian donors, complying with all safety and quality standards for the care of patients who require it.

The Cuban Ministry of Public Health on its official website reports that as of August 24, 17 patients remain hospitalized due to the large-scale fire that occurred on August 5 in the city of Matanzas. Of them, four are in critical condition, three serious and 10 care.

(Taken from Prensa Latina)