The group made up of 35 health specialists from the internationalist Henry Reeve contingent treated 4,627 patients, saved 52 lives and carried out 23,997 nursing procedures.

These professionals, of whom 14 are women and 21 are men, have more than 10 years of work experience, and represent 13 provinces of the country, the Ministry of Public Health reported.

According to this source, 65.7 percent of those collaborators completed an internationalist mission, mainly in Venezuela, and five of them in Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Guinea Conakry, Pakistan and Haiti.

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, 52 Henry Reeve brigades have collaborated with government efforts in 39 countries to contain contagions and save lives, and 43 of them are currently active in 33 nations.

A total of 2,523 Cuban collaborators, 1,435 of whom treat positive cases for Covid-19, have assisted 615,165 patients, and saved 13,590 lives in nations that have required their presence.

Numerous organizations and personalities from around the world promote the nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize of this Henry Reeve International Medical Contingent Specialized in Disaster Situations and Serious Epidemics.

(With information from PL)

The bodies of Barbara Caridad Cruz Ruiz, 46; Leonardo Ortiz Estrada, 53, and Eric Perez de Alejo Omar Quesada, 41; all specialists in General Comprehensive Medicine and residents of Villa Clara province, were found under the rubble of a building that totally collapsed in the municipality of Pedernales, Manabi.

The official note adds that the bodies are in preservation in order to be transferred to their homeland.

The rest of the medical brigade is in good health, asserts the Ministry of Public Health in its communique, noting that the Cuban workers are working normally and that a group of them participates in recovery efforts in the areas most affected by the earthquake.

A Cuban emergency brigade departed Sunday from Havana to Ecuador to assist victims of the devastating earthquake that took
place on Saturday, which so far has claimed the lives of 413 people, as confirmed Prensa Latina quoting the Security Coordination Ministry of the South American nation.

These figures may increase as new bodies are found under the rubble and the specialized staff manages to get to places cut off following the earthquake, as warned by President Rafael Correa, Prensa Latina specified, as well as the number of people injured reported -more than 2,500 up to his moment-, and the assessment of the substantial material damage caused.

(ACN)

Shortly after 7.00 a.m., the Aero Caribbean ATR 72 aircraft took off from the Jose Martí International Airport in Havana, carrying 1.2 tons of medicines, supplies and disposable materials for assistive care, together with the personnel.

Dr. Norberto Ramos, leading the brigade, told AIN that the team who will attend to the population in disaster areas following the onslaught of the tropical storm had been put together in just 12 hours.

He noted that among those leaving for Dominica are specialists who traveled to West Africa earlier this year to combat Ebola, as well as the earthquakes in Chile and Nepal.

The brigade has been equipped with all the necessary medicine and equipment to deal with the effects of the intense rain and flooding on the island, the doctor added.

Yosvany Vera, one of the members of the brigade, stated that he will work with the same level of dedication as he did in Sierra Leone up until five months ago, where he participated in the fight against Ebola.

Cuba has always been there when needed and this is no exception, he added, while admitting that every mission is a worry for his family. However, his experience in Africa demonstrated the adequate measures taken to limit the risks of contracting diseases in disaster situations.

For Dr. Gisela Hernandez, an anesthesiologist at the Comandante Manuel Fajardo Hospital in the capital, today is a proud moment and reinforces Cuba’s standing in regards to international solidarity.

While she notes that her family was not expecting her to receive another mission so soon, having returned from Nepal just a few weeks ago, they are sure that she will again return with the satisfaction of having completed her mission to save as many lives as possible.

The medical brigade, composed of nine doctors and seven nurses, including five specialized in obstetric care, will join the 11 Cuban doctors of the Integrated Health Program already working in the Commonwealth of Dominica.

The group forms part of the Henry Reeve International Contingent of Doctors Specialized in Disaster Situations and Serious Epidemics, which since its creation has served in various countries across the world, including during the recent Ebola outbreak in Western Africa.

According to press agencies, rescue workers have been attempting since Sunday to reach several communities that were isolated by floods and landslides in the wake of Erika, which left 20 dead and more than 50 missing.

Speaking to the nation, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit explained that the designation of special disaster areas was made following the loss of life and damage to property caused by Erika, which hit the island August 26-27 with over five hours of heavy rain and winds of 85 kilometers per hour, causing flooding and landslides.

On the night of May 12, the same night a severe aftershock hit the nation, 49 members of the Henry Reeve International Contingent Specialized in Disasters and Large Epidemics Brigade No.41 arrived in Katmandu.

“The landscape was disheartening, Dantesque, I would say. The country didn’t need nature to punish it this way. Those who managed to save their lives in the most affected areas have lost practically everything, including their most cherished loved ones,” Dr. Luis Orlando Oliveros Serrano, head of the Brigade, told Granma.

The day after setting foot in Nepal, the Cuban medical brigade moved quickly to the area occupied by the National Center for the Study of Ayurvedic Medicine, as directed by the country’s Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization, in accordance with plans made by the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ advance team.

The brigade immediately set up a field hospital, which Dr. Oliveros described, “This center adjacent to a hospital has a capacity of 20 beds and excellent anti-seismic properties. We have installed all the equipment we brought from Cuba. Since the 18th, we have been offering all of the services for which the brigade is prepared: an operating room, an intensive care ward, x-rays, ultra-sound, a laboratory, sterilization facilities, a pharmacy, rehabilitation and out-patient consultations.”

Additionally, he reported, the brigade is offering primary care in areas severely damaged around Katmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, with teams of comprehensive family doctors and specialists traveling to communities where they have treated more than 2,000 patients.

While tragedy continues to walk the streets in, hope is also present, in many cases in the form of a white coat. Dr. Oliberos comments, “Everyday we very humbly receive de monstrations of gratitude, as shown by the very behavior of our brigade.”

(Granma)

The group, composed of 49 professionals, including 25 doctors of various specialties, was ready in short time, according to a report released in the Granma newspaper.

Marcia Cobas, deputy minister of the Ministry of Public Health, said that in 24 hours they were ready specialists and equipment.

Cobas noted that the brigade carries to Nepal a field hospital that includes services of a surgical unit, sterilization, intensive care unit, possible diagnoses (including x-ray, laboratory semi-automated ultrasound) as well as areas for consultation and rehabilitation services, one of the most important efforts to make in the coming days.

She stressed that according to reports issued by officials from the Cuban Foreign Affairs Ministry located in China for organizing the arrival of the brigade, there is great expectation in the population of Nepal by the arrival of the Cuban hospital.

(Prensa Latina)