There are special men and women who give life to others and share generosity and altruism. For this reason, in all Cuba we celebrate the national day of homage to the voluntary blood donor, between June 6th and 14th, dedicated to them by the world.

Thus, this archipelago might lack material things, but not the feelings and human values. According to reports in the country, more than 640,000 donations are made per year and the donated blood is examined to avoid transmitting diseases. Therefore, thousands of Cubans share solidarity, and, even in little-known towns in the geography such as San Andrés, rural Holguín, there are donors with more than a hundred extractions donated throughout their lives.

In this health area there are 156 active donors, and they stand out for their participation in each blood bank -as the one carried out this June 7th – such as the Adonis Cabrera cigar factory, the polyclinic and communities of several health centers.

As those registered in this beautiful sheet of services, among other worthy examples, there are Guillermo Labarta Pérez, from the local cigar factory; Antonio Genaro Bruzón, worker of the Antivectorial Campaign; Manuel Armando Córdova Téllez, of Gastronomy; and Alexis Santiago Diéguez Fernández.

He tells that his first time was when he was 16 years old and he was a student of Physical Culture answering a call to save lives, and he felt so committed, that he has continued to contribute wherever he has been. Today he is 63 years old and has performed 136 donations. He knows that his blood group O is compatible with others and it is universal donor.

He likes activism and works with pleasure for the CDRs; for that reason, he can be seen visiting voluntarily neighborhoods and work centers of San Andrés, where he is welcome and finds friends whom he convinces to follow him; and they respond by attending blood banks.

Such is his passion, that these days I saw him -together with Public Health professionals- organizing the tribute activities to the donors, because he truly appreciates their value and solidarity gesture.

He and his colleagues know very well that, when they extend their arms in each donation, they make an essential contribution so that health institutions do not lack that vital fluid to save lives and alleviate the suffering of fellow beings: women with obstetric complications (related hemorrhages with childbirth, ectopic pregnancies); children and adolescents with severe anemia; people with severe traumas caused by accidents. Therefore, regardless rewards and social recognition, they will continue to do so.

The member of the Political Bureau and First Vice President of the Councils of State and Ministers, Salvador Valdés Mesa, perceived in Holguin the advance of the investments on the East-West diversion and its impacts on the agricultural and sugar production, according to the report by the journalist Marel González.

The meeting highlighted the need to optimally use the areas under irrigation and raise yields, in order to replace imports, increase the presence of products in the markets and incorporate items to the country's exports.

The member of the Central Committee and vice president of the Councils of State and Ministers, Inés María Chapman, attended the exchange, with businessmen of the province. She pointed out the importance of taking advantage of the East-West diversion for the development of aquaculture.

The member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Party, José Ramón Monteagudo Ruiz, was present. At the close of this information, the First Cuban Vice President visited the works associated with the East-West diversion in the municipalities of Cueto and Mayarí. The details will be announced in upcoming reports.

Specialists from more than a dozen countries, including Cuba, will make an update on the latest advances in the prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease, in a meeting that will take place next week in Havana.

At the International Fetal Cardiology Symposium (Cardiofetal) 2019, based at the Wiliam Soler Pediatric Cardiocenter, from June 12 to 14, Cuba will show the 30-year experience of the program for that purpose, stressed an expert from that institution.

Dr. Carlos García Guevara, Coordinator of the symposium, explained exclusively to the Cuban News Agency that on the island each Cuban pregnant woman between 18 and 26 weeks undergoes a screening ultrasound to look for malformations.

Among these are the cardiac ones, through prenatal diagnosis that detects more than 80 percent of congenital heart diseases, said the specialist of II degree in Pediatrics and Cardiology and Master in Comprehensive Child Care.

This is due to the Maternal and Child Care Program and the joint work of geneticists, cardiologists, pediatricians, gynecologists and other specialists, which is developed from the municipalities through the Network of Medical Genetics and the National Cardiopediatric Network, said the doctor.

Dr. Eugenio Selman-Housein Sosa, director of pediatric cardiocenter William Soler said that this was possible due to the dedication of the group of that institution, founded by Commander in Chief Fidel Castro, on August 25, 1986, and since then it guarantees patients a better quality of life and incorporation into society.

The topics of the scientific appointment will be about Heart Failure in the Fetus; the Impact of Prenatal Diagnosis of Congenital Heart Disease; the Fetal Heart in the first trimester; Arrhythmias in the Fetus; Fetal interventionism; Telemedicine in Fetal Cardiology; Genetics and Congenital Heart Disease and the Morphology of these ailments.

Experts from Peru, Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Cuba will show their experience at a symposium on prenatal diagnosis of heart disease in those nations, highlighted Dr. García Guevara, assistant professor. Among the renowned foreign lecturers is the Doctor of Argentina Pablo Marantz, one of the pioneers in the world of fetal interventionism of congenital heart disease.