Cuban Medical Assistance Abroad.

The presence of Cuban doctors on several continents was everyday news during the year 2005.

Under virtual siege from the US, this small Caribbean island has gone to great lengths to train personnel with the ethics and skills to effectively offer assistance in any corner of Earth.

This effort sharply contrasts with the war and indifference reining in so many places where the powerful impose their will to protect selfish economic interests.

There is a special additional merit. Cuba does not offer its surplus, but shares its best, even if it means belt tightening at home in order to aid others.

With that spirit, thousands of Cubans are currently volunteering their services in the most remote regions of the planet.

In Africa they are treating HIV-Aids patients in several countries. In Pakistan aiding earthquake victims. In Guatemala assisting communities battered by torrential rains and flooding during hurricane Stan. In the Caribbean, Cuban doctors are present during emergencies and often to fill in for other health professionals who have left their country for greener pastures in the North.

The Cuban doctors also have a key role in supporting the Barrio Adentro community health care program throughout Venezuela.

Within that program, the physicians identify low income venezuelans with eye problems and many of these are then offered free surgery on the island.

With the passage of hurricane Katrina in the Gulf Coast region of the United States and the government’s incompetence to handling the situation, the Henry Reeve International Medical
Brigade was created and their services immediately offered to Washington. Nearly 2,000 doctors waited on standby for weeks but the US never responded to the island’s offer.

Subsequently a large portion of the brigade was sent to Pakistan and Guatemala.

This monumental effort for others can only occur in a society like Cuba’s where the collective welfare takes precedence and human solidarity is a priority, a vision that goes beyond borders.