Most succesful workshop ever

4th International Workshop on Child Health

Camaguey, Cuba, March 2009

The fourth, and most successful, International Workshop on Child Health in Cuba was held in Camaguey on 3-5 March 2009. The multidisciplinary meeting involved doctors, nurses, clinical pharmacists and social workers.

Nine health professionals from the UK attended and they learnt about health care of children in Cuba. The multidisciplinary group from the UK involved an academic social worker, a trainee in child and adolescent psychiatry, a school nurse, a student in public health, a medical student and several consultant paediatricians.

The workshop was organised by the Director of Camaguey Children’s Hospital (Dr Deybis Sánchez Miranda), the Department of Provincial Health, Camaguey Province, (Dr Nacyra Bonet Lopez), the Department of Child Health, University of Nottingham and the International Institute for the Study of Cuba at London Metropolitan University.

The meeting was held in the San Juan de Dios museum which used to be a children’s hospital. The delegates were welcomed by a local orchestra who played both Cuban music and delighted the British delegates with an excellent version of ‘Yesterday’ by Lennon and McCartney. The main focus of the first day was child health in the community and two Cuban doctors explained the role of the family practitioner and the polyclinic. The family doctor, working with a nurse, provides medical care for between 120 and 160 families. The health professionals are aware of each member of the family and understand their medical and social problems. The polyclinics provide secondary care but work alongside the family doctor. The group visited the Julio Antonio Mella polyclinic in Camaguey which, like all polyclinics in Cuba, offers 24 hour emergency facilities.

There was also extensive discussion on the first day in relation to the management of children with disabilities in Cuba and the UK. The multidisciplinary approach to these children in two different countries was remarkably similar and reassuring.

Alongside the British and Cuban health professionals, were health professionals from Argentina, Canada and the United States. Dr Marcela Defagó described child health in Argentina and focused on inequalities in health in Argentina. She pointed out that over 40% of children in Argentina live in poverty and that there are wide variations in child mortality rates in different parts of Argentina. There was a three fold variation in infant mortality rates within different parts of Argentina. The problems of malnutrition, drug abuse and street children in Argentina provided a stark contrast to achievements in child health in Cuba. Other contributions on the second day focused on Cuba’s contribution to child health in Latin America where many Cuban health professionals work and Cuba’s role in training doctors from countries throughout Latin America.

Other themes within the workshop included a focus on the management of critically ill children, giardiasis, management of pain and the role of the nurse. Nurse Aime Garrote Camejo described how health professionals in Camaguey dealt with the effect of three hurricanes over a short period in time. No lives were lost in Camaguey Province and casualties were kept to a minimum. She explained how they have an annual training day in preparation for hurricanes so that everything runs smoothly when the hurricanes strike.

One of the aims of the workshop is to encourage Cuban health professionals to perform research and publish their findings. A poster session was held involving over a dozen health professionals on issues ranging from the rational use of antibiotics to the detection of hypertension in primary care.

Zeina Bárzaga Arencibia, a clinical pharmacist, described the role of the Therapeutics Committee in Camaguey Children’s Hospital and Dr Yoycet Ruiz de Villa Martínez described how they tried to prevent excessive use of antibiotics in the community. It was interesting to hear that they were concerned about their low breast feeding rates (only one in four infants were exclusively breast fed at the age of six months). It was pointed out to them that we in the UK would be delighted to achieve such high breast feeding rates.

The workshop provoked extensive discussion such that the meeting constantly overran. In order to accommodate a visit to the Children’s Hospital, this was arranged early in the morning prior to the lectures. Despite the long working days the delegates still managed to visit the beautiful city of Camaguey alongside visits to several excellent restaurants. The group also visited the house of Dr Carlos Finlay who was the first to develop the theory that mosquitoes were carriers of the organism responsible for yellow fever. He subsequently identified the mosquito responsible for transmitting this disease and recommended controlling the mosquito population to prevent the spread of yellow fever. The group finished off with a free day in Havana and a good understanding of how preventing illnesses is better than treating them once they are established.

There will be a further workshop in March 2010 and individuals interested in attending should contact Professor Imti Choonara;

Tel +44 (0) 1332 724693; Email: imti.choonara@nottingham.ac.uk

For this event the flight and accommodation was arranged in conjunction with Old Havana Ltd and the Sales Manager in London, Antonio Guevara, booked the flight amd offered the following for a total cost of £195 per person (based on two adults sharing). Please note there is a single supplement of £25 for individuals who want a single room.

* VIP reception on arrival in Cuba

* Domestic flight from Havana to Camaguey on Sunday 1 March

* Two night’s accommodation at Park View Hotel in Old Havana (based on two adults sharing a room)

* Transfer from Park View Hotel to Havana airport on Sunday 8 March.

* Optional extra week in Havana or elsewhere can be arranged.

Contact: Antonio Guevara, Old Havana Ltd, 3rd Floor King William House, 2a Eastcheap, London, EC3M 1AA;
Telephone: + 44(0)2076216524; Fax: +44(0)207623552
aguevara@scuktravel.com