Last Tuesday, before President Bush figured out things weren’t looking so good in New Orleans, Cuba offered mobile doctors with backpacks of supplies to help out immediately. Cuba said the health care workers could be in the US in six hours.
The New Standard says, “Castro originally offered assistance last Tuesday, but did so through back channels due to the adversarial relationship the US and Cuba have endured since a communist revolution swept Castro into power more than 40 years ago.”
Cuba is still waiting to hear from the US Government.
The Cuban president, Fidel Castro, stated that in this kind of situation, it didn’t matter how rich a country might be, or the number of its scientists or technical advances. Quoted in Granma, Castro added, “What is required at this moment is a team of young, well-trained professionals who, with a minimum of resources, can be sent where human beings are in danger of dying."
On Sunday night Castro commented, "… we have not received any response to our offer," he noted. "We will wait patiently for as long as it takes.”
Castro said if no response arrives, or if Cuba’s cooperation were not necessary, it would not be any cause for discouragement among our ranks. "Very much on the contrary, we would be satisfied that we had fulfilled our duty, and extremely happy to know that not one more U.S. citizen out of those who suffered the painful and treacherous blow of Hurricane Katrina would die without medical attention, if that were to be the cause for our doctors’ absence," he affirmed.
Castro described the medical help available thusly, “This medical force, I mean the 1586 initially mentioned, includes:
• 1097 specialists in Comprehensive General Medicine, 600 of whom are pursuing Masters degrees in Medical Sciences;
• 351 general practitioners and intensive care specialists;
• 72 healthcare professionals with two medical specialties, and
• 66 specialists in cardiology, pediatrics, gastroenterology, surgery, psychiatry, epidemiology and other specialties.
Of this medical force:
• 699 doctors have served in one or more international missions in 43 different countries, and some have even served in three missions, and
• 727 were ready and about to leave Cuba to serve in missions in Latin America, Africa and Asia; they joined this force in view of the dramatic situation unfolding in the southern United States, while other similar professionals will meet our internationalist commitment in other countries.”
”Of the total force, 729 are men and 857 are women," he said.
Castro, said, ”The average age of these health professionals is 32 years. Most of them had not yet been born when the revolution triumphed and some had not even been born 15 years after the triumph of the revolution, they are the product of these hard years. The average work experience is of no less than 10 years. Some have more experience, some less, most have more experience.”
”Of the total force, 729 are men and 857 are women.”
Castro went on to say, “Our doctors’ backpacks contain precisely those resources needed to address in the field problems relating to dehydration, high blood pressure, diabetes Mellitus and infections in all parts of the body —lungs, bones, skin, ears, urinary tract, reproductive system— as they arise. They also carry medicine to suppress vomiting; painkillers and drugs to lower fever; medication for the immediate treatment of heart conditions, for allergies of any kind; for treating bronchial asthma and other similar complications, about forty products of proven efficiency in emergencies such as this one.”
”These professionals carry two backpacks containing these products; each backpack weighs 12 kilograms. Actually, this was determined when all of the backpacks were procured, since although they are quite large, only half of the supplies would fit in; it was then necessary to give each doctor two backpacks, and the small briefcase which carries diagnostic kits. These doctors have much clinical experience, this is one of their most outstanding characteristic, as they are used to offering their services in places where there isn’t even one X-ray machine, ultrasound equipment or instruments for analyzing fecal samples, blood, etc. With the increase in the number of doctors, the medications weigh a total of 36 tons. The initial figure was smaller.”
AIN reports that the group of more than 1,500 doctors was called the Henry Reeve Contingent by Cuban President Fidel Castro. Henry Reeve was a young American who, along with a group of his countrymen, joined the Cuban independence struggle in 1868. Reeve, affectionately called 'El Inglesito,' stood out for his exceptional bravery and reached the rank of Brigadier General in the Cuban Liberation Army. He died fighting for Cuba’s freedom in 1876.
Cuba has more than 130,000 health professionals of who more than 25,000 are on international missions in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Cuba has a history of helping countries in the Caribbean rim which have been struck by hurricanes.
According to the New Standard, “Though apparently no final decision has been made, the United States federal government appears ready to turn down the offer of hurricane relief from the Cuba, which is world-renowned for its health-care system.”
It is to be noted that Castro, unlike Bush, also figured out who was affected most by the storm. He said, “It was clear to us that those who faced the greatest danger were these huge numbers of poor, desperate people, many elderly citizens with health situations, pregnant women, mothers and children among them, all in urgent need of medical care.” Sources: Granma (Cuba), AIN (Cuba), New Standard, Caribbean Net News, Political Affairs
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