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UPDATES: Cuban-Haitian Medical Teams in Haiti<br><br>
</font><font face="arial" size=2>February 2, 2010<b>Cuban and
Cuban-trained Haitian doctorsalready the largest contingent of medical
relief workers in Haiti since the January 12th earthquakeare being
joined by graduates of Cuba’s Latin American Medical School (ELAM) from a
score of countries.</b> Among the first to arrive this week will be
several US physicians who studied at ELAM. <br><br>
Of the 938 health care providers in the teams on the ground thus far, 280
are young Haitian doctors, and at least 60 more are Haitian medical
students enrolled at the school. Over the next few weeks, they will
receive reinforcements of their peers in a number of Latin American,
African and Caribbean countries.<br><br>
Like the Cubans, they are planning to stay in Haiti to rebuild the public
health system: <b>“We’re working to provide comprehensive care over the
long term,”</b> said Dr. Carlos Alberto Garcia, one of the teams’
coordinators. He noted that the immediate need for surgeries for
fractures and polytraumas has now given way to rehabilitation efforts,
treatment of people with diarrhea and respiratory infections, and
campaigns to prevent serious disease outbreaks in the aftermath of the
quake.<br><br>
The Henry Reeve Emergency Medical Contingentas the Cuban-led teams are
known, named after a US veteran of Cuba’s independence war against
Spainis now working in three hospitals, four field hospitals, five
Comprehensive Diagnostic Centers (clinics) and numerous open-air sites in
Port-au-Prince and throughout Haiti. The latest field hospital was
opened January 26 in Croix des Bouquets on the outskirts of the
capital.<br><br>
In addition, the contingent will open its ninth rehabilitation center
this week in Port-au-Prince, staffed by nearly <b>70 Cuban physical
therapists and rehab specialists</b>, in addition to the Haitian medical
personnel. Another <b>64 Cuban epidemiologists and nurses</b> are working
in teams with the Haitian medical students to provide health education,
vector control and vaccinations in some 40 makeshift settlements around
Port-au-Prince. <br><br>
“Post-quake epidemics are a real concern of course,” noted Dr. Garcia,
reporting that the teams have thus far vaccinated some 20,000 Haitians
and international volunteers with 400,000 tetanus vaccines donated by
Cuba and additional vaccines donated by the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) against whooping cough, rubella, measles and
diphtheria. <br><br>
</font><font face="arial" size=2 color="#993300"><b>The Cuban-led
contingent in numbers, through February 1, 2010:<br>
</b></font><font size=2>Health professionals938<br>
Of those, Haitian ELAM grads 280<br>
Persons treated50,000<br>
Surgeries3,400<br>
Complex surgeries1.500<br>
Births280 (including 183 C-sections</font><font size=3>)<br><br>
<i>Sources: Granma, Juventud Rebelde, AIN, PL, Trabajadores.</i>
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