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Cuba appeals to the world to join
struggle again Ebola
• Brigade of 165 health professionals to be
sent to Sierra Leona
“The Cuban government, as it has throughout these 55
years of Revolution, has decided to participate in
the global effort being conducted by the World
Health Organization to confront the dramatic
situation unfolding in western Africa, while at the
same time, calling on all countries’ governments and
ministries of health to join the struggle against
this disease.”
Dr. Margaret Chan and Dr. Roberto
Morales Ojeda during a press conference in Geneva.
Foto: Nacho Vázquez.
With these words, Cuban Minister of Health Roberto
Morales Ojeda, began his statement in Geneva,
September 12, announcing the sending of a 165-person
brigade, including 62 doctors and 103 nurses, who
possess on average 15 years of experience. All, he
added, have previously participated in responses to
natural disasters or epidemics, as well as medical
collaboration missions, with some 23% having joined
more than one internationalist effort.
Morales explained that the brigade, which is will
function through the World Health Organization (WHO)
in Sierra Leone, includes participants selected from
among the many who voluntarily expressed their
willingness to work in conjunction with all who
become involved, including the United States.
The Cuban minister reported that he had traveled to
Geneva to meet with WHO General Director Dr.
Margaret Chan, to respond in the name of the Cuban
government, to the request she and UN General
Secretary Ban Ki-moon made to President Raúl Castro
Ruz, as part of a worldwide effort to combat the
Ebola epidemic in western Africa.
 Dr.
Margaret Chan reported that 4782 cases of Ebola had
been identified through September 12, and 2,400
deaths.
The minister explained that, at the very beginning
of the crisis, Cuba decided to maintain its medical
brigades offering services in Africa, in particular
the 23-person group in Sierra Leone, and the 16
member contingent in Guinea Conakry.
During Dr. Margaret Chan’s press conference, Morales
called upon other world governments and health
ministries to collaborate with the affected
countries.
He also said that Cuba has taken steps as stipulated
by international health standards with regards to
the entry and exit of travelers, as well as
strengthening its National Hygienic-Epidemiological
Vigilance System.
The minister continued saying that Cuba’s response
is a continuation of Cuba’s tradition of solidarity,
recalling that the Revolution did not wait to
develop its own health care services, before
offering help to other peoples. Just one year after
the triumph of the Revolution, in 1960, Cuba
provided international medical aid for the first
time, to earthquake victims in Chile. In May of
1963, the country’s first medical brigade of 55
internationalists departed to Algeria, to offer
their services for a one year period.
 Dr.
Margaret Chan reported that 4782 cases of Ebola had
been identified through September 12, and 2,400
deaths.
In the decade of the 1970’s, Cuba’s solidarity in
the field of healthcare was extended across Latin
America, Africa and Asia. In 1988, after Hurricanes
George and Mitch ravaged the region, the
Comprehensive Health Program was begun in the
Caribbean and Central America, while to date, some
25,288,000 Cuban health professionals have offered
their services in 32 countries.
Cuban has also collaborated in the training of
medical sciences professionals for 121 countries in
Asia, Africa and the Americas. To date, 38,940
doctors have been trained, 24,486 of which graduated
over the last 10 years from the Latin American
School of Medicine, inaugurated by Comandante en
Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz in November, 1999, as a means
of making the Comprehensive Health Program
sustainable.
Cuba currently provides collaborating medical
sciences professors for medical schools in 10
countries, serving a total of 29,580 students.
One of Cuba’s most humane programs was initiated in
July of 2004, with the collaboration of the
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela: Operation Miracle
which has returned or improved the sight of more
than 2.8 million people in 35 countries. Of these,
36,636 in Africa.
Morales also recalled the catastrophe which followed
Hurricane Katrina’s trajectory over New Orleans,
September 19, 2005, and the creation of Cuba’s Henry
Reeve International Contingent of Doctors
Specialized in Confronting Disasters and Epidemics.
At that time, some 10,000 Cuban doctors were readied
to offer help to the people of New Orleans, help
which was not accepted by the U.S. government. Since
then, however, 39 brigades have been created which
have provided emergency aid in 23 countries.
Disability, as one the our peoples’ most pressing
problems, led to Cuba’s conducting of
psycho-sociological and clinical-genetic surveys in
Venezuela, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Bolivia and St.
Vincent and the Grenadines. Since 2008,
Cuban medical personnel and collaborators have
visited the homes of 1.5 million people with
disabilities to determine needs.
In Africa to date, 76,744 health care providers have
offered their services in 39 countries. Currently,
4,048 heath workers, including 2,269 doctors, are
collaborating in 32 countries.
Cuba is present today in 66 countries, with 50,731
health workers, of whom 64.6% are women and 25,412
are doctors.
Over these years of solidarity and cooperation,
595,482 missions have been completed in 158
countries, with the participation of 325,710 health
workers, many of whom have completed two, three or
more missions. More than 1.2 million medical
consultations have been provided; more than 2.2
million births assisted; 8 million surgeries
performed; and more than 12 million children and
pregnant women immunized.
WHO general director Dr. Margaret Chan emphasized,
during the press conference, that having the right
people, the right specialists, is critical to
preventing the spreading of Ebola. These medical
professionals, she said, must be appropriately
trained and know how to keep themselves safe, as
well.
“Money and materials are important, but with these
means alone we can not stop the Ebola outbreak… What
is most important is that they be people who feel
compassion, doctors and nurses who know how to
comfort patients despite the barriers, for example,
of wearing a protective suit, and working in very
difficult circumstances,” she said.
After reiterating that the Ebola outbreak ravaging
part of western Africa is the longest, most severe
and complex in the almost 40 years since the virus
was first known, Chan commented that Cuba is
recognized internationally for its capacity to train
excellent doctors and nurses, as well as “its
generosity and solidarity with countries on the road
to progress.”
Later, in response to a reporter’s question, Dr.
Chan reported that China has also responded, and has
provided medical equipment to three of the affected
countries.
She added that UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon has
been speaking with world leaders, especially those
in Britain, the United States, France, South Africa,
and China, saying, “All of the conversations have
been very positive. It is now about the details, how
many people, what materials, and where.”
FOTOS:
1.-ebola6: Dr. Margaret Chan and Dr. Roberto Morales
Ojeda during a press conference in Geneva. Foto:
Nacho Vázquez
2.-ebola12: Some 500 to 600 doctors and more than
1,000 heath care workers are needed to combat the
Ebola epidemic.
3.-ebola13: Dr. Margaret Chan reported that 4782
cases of Ebola had been identified through September
12, and 2,400 deaths.
4.-ebola14
5.-ebola2
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