President commences radiotherapy, to return home next week

President David Granger has commenced his regimen of radiotherapy which will end in the next five days, according to the Ministry of the Presidency.

The Head of State is expected to return home next week, the Ministry said in a statement which revealed that “his Cuban Medical Team has expressed their full satisfaction with the President’s response to treatment and the overall state of his health.”

President Granger was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in November 2018–a type of Cancer which develops in a network of vessels and glands spread throughout the body. He is undergoing treatment at the Centre for Medical, Surgical Research (CIMEQ) in Cuba. He has since completed his Chemotherapy treatment at the facility.

The President arrived in Cuba on April 2, 2019, for further medical evaluation, however, he has also been keeping an active schedule in Havana.

According to the Ministry, he visited the Escuela Taller de la Habana in Old Havana and met the Administrative Staff and two groups of trainees in a class room situation last Friday.

The Taller Escuela was established in 1992 and is part of the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana. It trains young people in a variety of skills such as masonry, plumbing and carpentry, among others, and helps them to achieve upward mobility in the system.

The President has expressed a strong interest in vocational and skills training and wanted to know and learn more about the Cuban approach to the training of Cuban youths who are not in the formal education system, the Ministry of the Presidency noted.

He is hoping that the recently formed Guyana Youth Corps could benefit from the experience of the Taller Escuela and future cooperation between the two institutions, the Ministry said.

The President also visited the Cuban National Zoological Park and the National Botanic Garden of the University of Havana over the past two weeks.

During his tour of both the Zoological Park and the Botanic Garden, he explained some aspects of Guyana’s Green State Strategy to the Administrative Staff and tasked the Guyana Embassy with developing MOUs between Guyana and those Cuban agencies.

In reviewing Guyana-Cuba collaboration in the Health Sector, President Granger expressed a deep concern with the high incidence of cancer, heart disease and diabetes in Guyana and would like stronger ties between Guyana and the Cuban medical institutions that specialize in those ailments.

Editor’s note: As a result of a press statement issued by the Ministry of the Presidency, this story initially stated that the President is undergoing treatment for radiology when in fact it should be radiotherapy. News Room has since updated the story to reflect the accurate treatment.