RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – During the coronavirus pandemic, the number of Cuban doctors working abroad has increased to approximately 2,000 in over 20 missions.
On Sunday, a group consisting of virologists, epidemiologists, and intensive care doctors, among others, landed in San Pedro Sula in Honduras. They will be assisting hospitals in the north of the country.
The Honduran Vice Minister of Health, Dr. Roberto Consenza, welcomed the doctors and stressed that his country was “very grateful for the enormous gesture of fellowship by Cuba, which is ready to extend its humanitarian hand”.
Last Wednesday, a mission of 200 professionals also reached Dukhan in Qatar. They were due to start working following a brief quarantine period.
Dr. Abdullatif Al Khal, the co-chair of the National Committee for Pandemic Preparedness, said that the experience with Cuban professionals had been positive: “Cuban doctors are excellent and Cuba is a friendly country that extends its hand to Qatar”.
A further mission of over 200 specialists is also planned for Argentina in mid-May. Health Minister Gines González García confirmed that Cuban doctors could contribute to the overall system, but would not be deployed on the “front line”. She stressed that important decisions would not be taken by them. They are to be deployed mainly in the countryside, where the situation is particularly difficult.
The measure to bring Cuban doctors into the country was met with resistance on social media. Opposition groups rejected this measure, saying that Argentinean doctors should first be brought back from abroad, said former Security Minister Patricia Bullrich, for one. Criticism was also voiced by the medical community: It is to be assumed that the “quality of treatment” will suffer.
Meanwhile, Cuba continues to struggle with the effects of the US blockade policy. Ventilators are not being supplied and medical equipment from the USA is subject to tougher sanctions.
On Monday, France’s parliamentary leader André Chassaigne called for the blockade to be lifted. He described it as “unacceptable and murderous” and stressed Cuba’s outstanding solidarity in dealing with the pandemic in Italy and Andorra.
Chassaigne is supported by the Vietnamese and Russians, among others. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc reiterated that the Vietnamese population stands by Cuba “to mitigate the hardships caused by the blockade”.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov referred to the radically contrasting approaches taken by the US and Cuba to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic: While Cuba provided medical personnel in more than 60 countries, the US prevented the delivery of medical equipment to the island state and even confiscated material intended for other countries.
Over the weekend, a second Cuban aid mission inaugurated an emergency hospital in Turin, Italy.
In early April, Russia failed to negotiate a UN Security Council resolution to lift all unilateral sanctions in the fight against Covid-19.
Source: Amerika21
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