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| Cuba's response to the Ebola crisis |
The Canadian Network On Cuba (CNC) is
launching the Cuba For West Africa Campaign to raise funds to
assist the ongoing Cuban medical missions in the West African nations of
Guinea-Conakry, Liberia & Sierra Leone that are engaged in fighting the
Ebola epidemic. The Cuban medical mission is by far the largest sent by any
country. Standing side-by-side with the peoples of West Africa, 461 Cuban
doctors and nurses – chosen from more than 15,000 volunteers - have gone to
West Africa and joined the struggle against Ebola. Jose Luis Di Fabio, a
representative of the World Health Organization, underscored that “there
are more human resources from Cuba than from many, many NGOs put together.”
Such is the
magnitude of Cuba’s solidarity with Africa that even the corporate media,
usually unduly harsh in their views concerning Cuba, had to give the Caribbean
nation plaudits for its actions. For example, the New York Times, recognizing
at last Cuba’s virtue, has been moved to editorialize its position that the
U.S. economic embargo against the island should end and the three Cubans still
imprisoned in the U.S. as fighters against terrorism should be freed. Also, on
October 9th, the Wall Street Journal stated: “Few have heeded the call, but one
country has responded in strength: Cuba.” As Jorge Lefebre Nicolas, Cuba’s
ambassador to Liberia, declared: “We cannot see our brothers from Africa in
difficult times and remain there with our arms folded.” Havana’s contribution
is to be contrasted with that of Washington, which dispatched thousands of
soldiers, instead of more desperately needed healthcare personnel and
resources.
The Cuban
doctors serving in West Africa are motivated not by financial gain but by the
profound internationalist values of solidarity inculcated since the triumph of
the Cuban Revolution. Since 1959, more than 300,000 Cuban medical workers have
served in 158 countries. Currently, 50,000 Cuban doctors and nurses are serving
in 66 countries across Latin America, Africa and Asia. Indeed, before the
Ebola epidemic there were more than 4,000 Cuban healthcare personnel treating
people in 32 African countries.
As Dr. Jorge Perez Avila, the director of the
Pedro Kouri Institute for Tropical Medicine in Havana - where those going to
fight ebola get three weeks of intensive specialized training before going
overseas - noted: "Our principle has been to share what we
have."
In 2010 Cuba
rose to the immense challenge of helping the heroic people of Haiti after the
earthquake that inflicted such horrendous suffering. In response, the CNC
launched the Cuba For Haiti Campaign as the best way by which
Canadians could help Haiti. The success of the Cuba For Haiti Campaign demonstrates
the confidence and respect that Canadians have for the people for Cuba. The respect
and confidence increase the better we know Cuba.
In 2014, as it has always done, Cuba is taking
up the cause of humanity in Guinea-Conakry, Liberia & Sierra Leone. Africa
has called and Cuba has answered.
At the September
16, 2014 meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Cuban representative
Abelardo Moreno declared: “Humanity has a debt to African people. We cannot let
them down.”
The CNC is
asking Canadians to support the invaluable work of the Cuban medical mission by
donating to the Cuba For West Africa Campaign. You can support the
Cuba For West Africa Campaign by sending a check to the Canadian Network On
Cuba. The cheques should be made out to the Canadian Network On Cuba,
writing Cuba for West Africa Campaign on your cheque’s memo
line. Your donation should be mailed to: THE CNC, Attn: S. Skup, 56 Riverwood
Terrace, Bolton, ON L7E 1S
- Isaac Saney, Co-Chair &
Spokesperson, Canadian Network on Cuba, November 14, 2014 -
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