The Cuban medical professionals in Sierra Leone.
The contingent of Cuban medical professionals that traveled to Sierra Leone has reportedly helped cure 260 patients infected with the Ebola virus who were in serious condition. The 164 Cuban health workers were dispatched to 4 different treatment centers in the country. ACN provided a glowing report in regards to their efforts.
La Granma (the Official Party Publication) published a story about the medical professionals when they departed last October. They reported that there were 102 nurses and 63 doctors participating on the trip and over 80% at served on previous international health missions in other African countries.
Cuba is known for it’s medical contributions to the international community. Currently, there over 11,000 Cuban health care professionals participating in Brazil’s Mais Medicos program to alleviate the massive strain on Brazil’s medical infrastructure. While the report hailed the important and valuable work that members of the Cuban medical community were doing, there was no reflection on the pressing concerns for public health in Cuba.
One of the most shocking concerns that Cubanet reported are the discrepancies between the calls for an ambulance to be dispatched and the arrival of an ambulance. This has happened on multiple occasions and a shortage of ambulances for use is central to the problem. One elderly woman passed away when an ambulance was called at 11:00am and did not arrive until 6:00pm. Another woman who was 101 years old had to wait from 10:00am to 9:00pm to be transferred to the hospital for treatment of pneumonia.
A Ministry of Public Health official from the Playa municipality spoke anonymously and said that the Cuban Ministry of Public Health has a large fleet of ambulances that would eliminate these issues. While the ambulances might be owned by the Ministry of Public Health, they are not being dispatched for most Cubans. Hospital workers reported that only Cubans who are receiving expedited or timely ambulance service are those who are admitted under police control.
This past week researchers from the University of Leuven in Belgium discovered a new strain of HIV in Cuba. This strain is significantly more aggressive than common HIV strains. Those infected are developing AIDS in a three year time frame versus the typical ten year period. This has received significant international attention as it presents a potentially massive public health crisis. The sample size for the study conducted was relatively small with only 95 patients.
As Cuba is receiving more international attention, especially in the field of health and science will this international focus change or create state responses to these critical and lethal health disparities.
http://en.granma.cu/cuba/2014-10-02/raul-bids-farewell-to-medical-brigade-headed-to-sierra-leone
http://www.cubanews.ain.cu/science/2523-cuban-physicians-cure-260-ebola-patients-in-sierra-leone
http://www.cubanet.org/destacados/la-muerte-viaja-en-ambulancia/
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