[NYTr] Latin American Medicine Day Marked in Cuba

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Agencia Cubana de Noticias (ACN)
http://ainch.ain.cu/mailman/listinfo/ingles


Latin American Medicine Day Marked in Cuba

Havana, Dec 3 (acn) The Cuban Trade Union of Healthcare Workers met in 
centers across the country on Monday, Latin American Medicine Day, to 
discuss new strategies to improve the quality of services.

Students, healthcare workers, and community representatives 
participated in the debates and a central ceremony was held at the 
Calixto Garcia University Hospital in Havana to mark the important date.

Latin American Medicine Day is held on December 3 to commemorate the 
birthday of Cuban scientist Carlos J. Finlay who, in 1833, discovered 
the transmitting agent of yellow fever, the Aedes Aegypti mosquito.

Finlay's discovery was partially eclipsed by US scientist Walter Reed 
who tried to prove the bacterial nature of yellow fever.

However, Finlay's finding and his program of actions to fight the
pandemic was recognized by the 14th International Congress on Medical
History held in Rome in 1954.

On May 25, 1981, UNESCO established the Carlos J. Finlay International 
Award to acknowledge major advances in microbiology around the world. 
UNESCO also included Carlos J. Finlay among the six most important 
microbiologists of all time.