Cuban health team heads to Sierra Leone to fight Ebola

By Caribbean Medical News Staff
Cuba is renowned for its world-trained doctors and now 165 Cuban health care professionals are heading to Sierra Leone to help in the fight against the rapidly spreading deadly Ebola virus.

There are currently over 50 000 trained Cuban doctors working around the world.

The island’s Minister of Health, Dr Roberto Morales Ojeda has confirmed that the island will send a response team to Sierra Leone to assist in fighting the disease.

The Cuban team will include 50 doctors, 100 nurses , 3 intensive care specialists, 3 infection control specialist nurses, 3 epidemiologists and 5 social mobilization officers. They will be managed by epidemiologist Dr Jorge Juan Delgado Bustillo.

Dr Bruce Aylward, Assistant Director at WHO said, “Those of us who have been working on the response efforts at WHO know how truly valuable this offer is. Many countries have offered money but no other country has offered such a large number of workers to go in and help do the most difficult jobs in this crisis.”

Some of the workers have already worked in Sierra Leone.

“Money and materials are important, but those two things alone cannot stop Ebola virus transmission,” said Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General at the World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO is hoping that the offer made by Cuba may incentivise other governments to send health care workers to the Ebola-ravaged region to help contain, control and eradicate the illness.

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