“Cuba has a workforce of more than 60,000 physicians which makes it one of the best resourced countries in the world.”
DR. FITZHUGH MULLAN
The George Washington University Medical School

“(When) I became a doctor, they had just begun a program of rural hospitals...I was assigned to a hospital in the Sierra Cristal Mountains. I could never have imagined the magnitude of those people's suffering. ”
DR. FELIPE CARDENAS
Pediatric Heart Surgeon, Cuba

“It started with the idea that there was always someone worse off than ourselves and that we could share
the little we had. ”
DR. ROBERTO CAPOTE
First Cuban Medical Team, Algeria

“I have two daughters...The oldest wrote 'so that you don't feel sad when you're treating those little children, give them all the love you would give to us'... ”
DR. NANCY SUAREZ
Cuban physician, The Gambia

“Of 23 counties that I represent, 22 of them are medically underserved…. One of the reasons the Congressional Black Caucus wanted to go to Cuba is that as we traveled around the world, in some of the most remote places we would always run up on Cuban doctors.  So we went to Cuba.”
HON. BENNIE THOMPSON, U.S.
House of Representatives, Mississippi

“For a lot of the students who are here, this is our only option, our only means [to get a medical education]….One of my beliefs as a Christian is that when God closes a door he always opens a window.  So for us, this is that window.”
TERESA GLOVER, U.S.
student, Latin American Medical School (ELAM), Havana

“Where we are today, Cuba was there 20 years ago. The best pilot for a route is the one who is very familiar with that route… If you are really interested in development, the alpha of it is health.”
DR. YAHYA  A. J. J. JAMMEH
President, The Gambia

“The hardest thing about our life is food and the children’s health care.”
FATOU NDURE
Women’s Organization, Nowleru, The Gambia

“There is a major contradiction in these adjustment programs, because the pattern is to shrink the role of the government. But there are key sectors like health in a country like Honduras and all of Latin America, where the government is the only entity capable of addressing inequities.” 
DR. JOSÉ FIUSA
Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Honduras

“Cuban doctors have a different philosophy about medicine that the country finds very useful. They go where they are most needed. They are flexible and very competent.  That to us is an excellent addition to our efforts.”
ELIÁS LIZARDO
Minister of Health, Honduras

“We took a very firm policy position that we would not recruit from the African continent.  In fact we will not recruit doctors from any developing country without the understanding that that government could manage the fallout from that movement of doctors from its own health system. One of the countries that immediately came to our minds was Cuba.”
DR. AYANDA NTSALUBA
Former Director General of Health, South Africa

“Of the generation I trained with 80% have disappeared, so just understand that (the brain drain) is massive.”
DR. T.K.S. LETLAPE
President, South African Medical Association

“You have to assume that 100% of the patients you are treating are HIV-positive … The worst part is testing your blood after one month, after three months, after six months, after one year, making sure you are not positive.”
DR. ROLANDO ORTIZ
Head of Cuban Medical Team, Lusikisiki,
South Africa

“It's a completely new idea, to educate high quality doctors IN the community....Health is the first of our freedoms. ”
SAMUEL MONCADA
Minister of Higher Education, Venezuela

“June 6 arrived, that’s the day I was to take the entrance exam. I couldn’t sleep.  I was awake and jumpy all night. I left at 4:00 am and the exam was at 9:00 in the morning! … That day changed my life.”
VANESSA HERNÁNDEZ
‘Barrio Adentro’ Medical Student, Caracas, Venezuela