Cuban medics – 60 years of expertise
THE CUBAN Medical Brigade in South Africa will transfer expertise in the planning, execution and management of the clinical cases and public health response.
Historically, the Cubans have proven advantages: free universal health care; primary preventative health-care strategy; community-based medicine; world’s highest ratio of doctors to population; positive health indicators such as high life expectancy and low infant mortality; voluntary health-care professionals; experience at building up and supporting the health systems of foreign countries; willingness to take high risks in the dangerous viral front lines; and an advanced medical research industry that includes three laboratories.
What makes these advantages poignant is that for 60 years Cuba has functioned under illegal US sanctions, copes with reduced oil supplies and essential goods, decreased foreign earnings from tourism, deterred foreign direct investment, hampered imports and exports, and obstructed access to international finance, including emergency funds.
The sanctions have under-resourced Cuba and heightened its structural weaknesses – housing shortage and poor infrastructure.
But, as the news of the outbreak of coronavirus spread from China in December, Cuba responded pro-actively in January with a containment and control plan – training medical staff, preparing medical and quarantine facilities, and educating the public about the symptoms and precautions.
With 766 reported cases by April 15, Cuba has 68 cases per million of population, based on tests using WHO protocols. Although they have identified 16 outbreak clusters, they are still struggling to prevent a take-off.
If Cuba’s contact-tracing and testing regime gets the disease under control, its experience might offer lessons for controlling the pandemic, and more of its doctors will be available to help with the effort to combat the pandemic abroad.
From experiences in about 23 countries they know respiratory viruses initially appear in pandemic waves, which with proper treatment subside endemically. They know how to prepare for the post-pandemic phase.
Cuba has been able to keep Covid19 cases to about 1370 infections and 54 deaths as at April 27. The medical brigade was instrumental in supporting Africa in curbing and controlling the Ebola outbreak in 2014. Even countries like Italy and Andorra have embraced the brigade graciously.
The number of Cuban-trained doctors working in other countries is even higher considering the number of graduates from Havana’s Latin American School of Medicine, which has provided free education to 35000 doctors from 138 countries since 1999.
At any one time, there are about 50000 Cuban doctors working across 61 countries. They put themselves in harm’s way to support people and countries all over the world. But the USA has manufactured and exported narratives globally, and not stated facts about the brigade.
What makes it possible for Cuba to practice medicine as a compassionate science is its health management model, with its primary, preventative healthcare strategy to serve the masses, focus on disease prevention and the conduct of health work through mass campaigns.