Las Tunas, (Main Writing Tiempo21).- Cuba allows a better quality of life to older people thanks to the work of more than 260 geriatricians, since there are 14 of those specialists for 100, 000 people, one of the best rates in Latin America.

A wire from the Cuban News Agency points out that Dr. Humberto Arencibia, director of the Center for Research on Longevity, Aging and Health (CITED), noted that the staff of geriatrics is not only challenged by the care, but also to prepare human resources.

The specialists noted that despite the U.S. blockade, Cuba has guaranteed care to the elderly and has maintained full coverage to the welfare and free health services.

This work has made possible that the citizens can live nearly 78 years, comparable to first world nations, said Arencibia, also chairman of the organizing committee of the 28th International Seminar on Elderly Care.

Nearly two million people in Cuba are more than 60 years, 17.4 percent of the total population and by 2025 one in four people will be more than six decades.

Of that number an important amount will need specialized care and especially related to long-term care, a challenge for health and social systems, said the director of CITED Collaborating Centre of the World and Pan American Organizations Health (WHO-PAHO).

Experts from different fields of gerontology and other related professions, from Peru, United States, Mexico, Argentina and Cuba, among others, will be in Havana until Friday to receive a seminar under the auspices of PAHO, the Latin American Academy of Medicine for the Elderly and the CITED.

In the event the participants will also debate the main challenges they have to face in their profession, such as ethical and legal dilemmas, as well as skills and attitudes in their daily work.

Translation: Ernesto Gutierrez Pino