 |
|
The first 165 of 461 Cuban doctors and nurses selected by their revolutionary government for the honor of combating the Ebola epidemic in West Africa arrive and unload supplies Oct. 2 in Freetown, Sierra Leone, where they will stay at least six months. Along with them were the advance teams for the next group of volunteers who will go to Liberia and Guinea-Conakry. “Money and materials are important, but those two things alone cannot stop Ebola virus transmission,” Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, told the press when Cuba first announced the mission. “Human resources are clearly our most important need. We need most especially compassionate doctors and nurses, who will know how to comfort patients despite the barriers of wearing PPE [personal protective equipment] and working under very demanding conditions.” Havana’s contribution to the fight against Ebola is consistent with its internationalist foreign policy since Cuba’s 1959 socialist revolution. Cuba is putting more health workers on the ground in West Africa to combat Ebola than the combined total from all other foreign countries in the world. The 461 health workers were chosen from more than 15,000 Cubans who volunteered. The group that went to Sierra Leone had completed a rigorous training program that began Sept. 15. The Vice Director of Cuba’s Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine, Angel Luis Guerra, said that “all the volunteers will go to places where there is Ebola and will offer treatment in community camps or treatment centers.” As of Oct. 1, more than 3,431 Africans have died from the disease. Many deaths are not reported. Prevention “is the key measure” to roll back the epidemic, Jorge Pérez, director of the institute, told the Cuba Debate website. |
| — SETH GALINSKY |