South America's ALBA group reviews healthcare investment progress and plans:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The South American and Caribbean region's ALBA group of nations is preparing to launch new public health initiatives in investment-starved areas. Details of the progress and new plans of the Alternativa Bolivariana para las Americas group (comprising Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela) were this week presented to the Cuban parliament, by the minister for foreign investment and economic collaboration, Marta Lomas. They feature a commitment to maintain a Cuban-Venezuelan eye surgery project (Operacion Milagro), said to have helped more than 650,000 people regain their sight. Specific plans were not divulged. ALBA focuses on areas in which investment shortfalls have hindered service development in its member countries, such as under the economic and trade blockade imposed by the US on Cuba, but its programmes are said to actively benefit other countries in the region.