The mayor of Vila Real de Santo António, Luís Gomes, was honored this Wednesday in Cuba by the Council of State, where he received the Medal of Friendship.
This, which is the highest decoration awarded by the Republic of Cuba to a foreign citizen, aims to highlight the close relationship that the municipality of VRSA has maintained with this country over the past eight years. The award was highly sponsored by President Raúl Castro and was awarded at the Cuban Institute of Friendship with Peoples.
For Luís Gomes, “this distinction is proof of the success of the close relations that VRSA has always developed, without reservations, with the Republic of Cuba and, through which, important ruptures were caused, namely in health, whose partnerships contributed to the reduction waiting lines for surgery, in the field of Ophthalmology, in the National Health Service».
«On the other hand, this proximity has allowed us to find several social responses that have an impact on improving the quality of life of the people of Vila Real. An example of this is the “Care” program, where we benefit from Cuba's know-how in ophthalmology, or the pioneering geriatric model developed at Casa do Avô”, continues the Mayor of Vila Real de Santo António.
Also through collaboration with Cuba's health services, more than 300 Vila Reals have benefited from eye interventions in this country, with the example being followed by other municipalities. On the other hand, this strategic partnership led to the opening of the VRSA International Medical Center, where some of the most innovative treatments in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation can be found.
In the cultural field, synergies with Cuba allowed the holding of several editions of the Cuban Culture Meeting and the organization, in VRSA, of the World Conference of the José Martí Project for International Solidarity, a meeting that brought the intellectual and theologian Frei Betto to Portugal.
Also within the scope of this tribute, Luís Gomes conducted a Magisterial Session, at the University of Informatics Sciences, in Havana, under the theme “The situation in Europe and its immediate future”.
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