Reflections of Fidel
Duty and the epidemic
in Haiti
(Taken from CubaDebate)
ON Friday, December 3, the UN
decided to devote a session of the General Assembly
to an analysis of the cholera epidemic in this
neighboring country. The news of that decision was
hopeful. Surely it would serve to alert
international opinion to the gravity of the
situation and mobilize support for the Haitian
people. At the end of the day, its raison d’être is
to confront problems and promote peace.
The current period in Haiti is
grave, and the urgently required aid is little.
Every year, our agitated world invests $1.5 trillion
in arms and wars; Haiti – a country which less than
one year ago suffered the brutal earthquake that
resulted in 250,000 dead, 300,000 injured and
enormous destruction – according to expert
calculations, requires $20 billion for its
reconstruction and development, just 1.3%
of what is spent in one year to those ends.
But now, it is not about that, which
would constitute a simple dream. The UN is not only
appealing for modest economic aid that could be
produced in a few minutes, but also for 350 doctors
and 2,000 nurses, not possessed by the poor
countries and whom the rich countries generally
snatch from the poor ones. Cuba responded
immediately, volunteering 300 doctors and nurses.
Our Cuban Medical Mission in Haiti is treating close
to 40% of those affected by cholera. In the wake of
the call from that international organization, they
rapidly took on the task of discovering the concrete
causes of the high mortality rate. The low mortality
rate of the patients whom they are treating is less
than 1% – is declining and will continue declining
every day – as compared to the 3% of persons treated
in other health centers operating in the country.
It is evident that the number of
deaths is not confined to the 1,800-plus people
recorded. That figure does not include those who die
without having gone to the existing doctors and
heath centers.
Inquiring into the causes of those
arriving in the most serious condition at the
centers combating the epidemic and treated by our
doctors, they observed that they came from the most
distant sub-communes with the least communication.
Haiti’s land surface is mountainous, and many
isolated points can only be reached by moving over
rugged ground.
The country is divided into 140
urban or rural communes, and 570 sub-communes. In
one of the isolated sub-communes, where
approximately 5,000 live – according to the
Protestant pastor there – 20 people had died as a
result of the epidemic without having been treated
at a
health center.
According to urgent investigations
on the part of the Cuban Medical Mission in
coordination with the national health authorities,
it has been confirmed that 207 Haitian sub-communes
in the most remote areas lack access to the centers
fighting cholera or providing medical attention.
The abovementioned United Nations
meeting ratified the need highlighted by Ms. Valerie
Amos, UN Under-secretary General for Humanitarian
Affairs and Emergency Relief, who made an urgent two-day
visit to the country and calculated the figure of
350 doctors and 2,000 nurses. It was necessary to
know the human resources existing in the country in
order to calculate the number of personnel needed.
That number also depends on the hours and days
devoted by the personnel fighting against the
epidemic. One important fact to bear in mind is not
only the time that they devote to their work, but
the hour. The analysis of the high mortality rate
reveals that 40% of deaths take place in nighttime
hours, which points to affected patients not
receiving the same attention to their disease during
those hours.
Our mission estimates that the
optimum use of personnel would reduce the
abovementioned total. By mobilizing the available
human resources of the Henry Reeve Brigade and the
ELAM graduates that it has, the Cuban Medical
Mission is convinced – even in the midst of the
tremendous adversities originating from the
earthquake destruction, the hurricane, unforeseeable
heavy rainfall and the poverty – that the epidemic
can be controlled and the lives of thousands of
people who will inexorably die in the current
circumstances, can be saved.
Sunday the 28th was the date of
elections for the presidency, the totality of the
Chamber of Representatives and part of the Senate, a
tense and complex event that seriously concerned us,
given that it is related to the epidemic and the
traumatic situation in the country.
In his statement on December 3, the
UN secretary general stated textually: "Whatever the
complaints or reservations about the process, I urge
all political actors to refrain from violence and to
start discussions immediately to find a Haitian
solution to these problems – before a serious crisis
develops," an important European news agency
reported.
According to the same news agency,
the secretary general appealed to the international
community to complete the allocation of $164 million,
of which only 20% has been forthcoming.
It is not right to address
a country like someone who is scolding a little
child. Haiti is a country that, two centuries ago,
was the first in this hemisphere to end slavery. It
has been the victim of all kinds of colonial and
imperialist aggressions. It was occupied by the
government of the United States barely six years ago
after the latter promoted a fratricidal war. The
existence there of a foreign occupation force, in
the name of the United Nations, does not deprive
that country of the right to respect for its dignity
and its history.
We consider the position of the UN
secretary general in appealing to Haitian citizens
to avoid confrontations among themselves as correct.
On November 28, at a relatively early hour, the
opposition parties endorsed a call for street
protests, thus provoking demonstrations and creating
notable confusion within the country, particularly
in Port-au-Prince; but, above all, outside of the
country. Nevertheless, both the government and the
opposition managed to avoid acts of violence. The
following day the nation was calm.
The European agency stated that Ban
Ki-moon had stated in relation to "last Sunday’s
elections in Haiti […] that the ‘irregularities’
registered ‘now seem more serious than initially
thought.’
Anyone who has read all the news
coming in from Haiti and the latest statements of
the main opposition candidates would find it
impossible to understand that the person appealing
for the avoidance of fratricidal fighting in the wake of the
confusion created among voters in the run-up to the
results of the count which will determine the two
rival candidates in the January elections, is now
saying that the problems were more serious than he
initially thought, which is tantamount to fuelling
the flames of political antagonisms.
Yesterday, December 4, was the 12th
anniversary of the arrival of the Cuban Medical
Mission in the Republic of Haiti. Since them,
thousands of Cuban public health doctors and
technical personnel have been providing services in
Haiti. We have experienced with its people times of
peace, of war, earthquakes, hurricanes and
cyclones. We will be with them in these times of
intervention, occupation and epidemics.
The president of Haiti, the central
and local authorities, whatever their religious or
political ideas, know that they can count on Cuba.
Fidel Castro Ruz
December 5, 2010
8:12 p.m.
