The World Should Pay Cuba To Help Fight Ebola In Africa

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Raul Castro dispatched 461 doctors to West Africa

[Publisher’s Commentary]

Cuba has shown the world that the only way to fight Ebola is to defeat the disease at the source of the current outbreak, in West Africa — in Liberia, in Guinea and in Sierra Leone.

While the world talks about logistics and technical challenges Cuba took action and sent 461 doctors to West Africa.

Cuba is a leader in the battle against infectious diseases. There is much that the world, including the United States and American hospitals can learn from Cuba about infectious diseases.

If the doctors and healthcare workers aren’t forthcoming from elsewhere around the world, why can’t an international donor meeting come up with the funds to pay Cuba to send more doctors since the tiny island nation has already shown by action that it’s willing to engage in full battle with Ebola?

No one is saying it, but the major industrial countries were busy making pledges and slow to react because many decision-makers possibly thought that so long as the crises was confined to Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, it was merely another “African problem”.

So what that death rates had already approached 4,000 in these three countries combined?

So long as it wasn’t in our back yard there was no need to panic; no need to go all out in supplying the healthcare workers, the protective gears, and the prefabricated isolation wards for confining and rehydrating patients that would be needed.

Extremely foolish, reckless, and suicidal thinking.

How can anyone believe that a disease such as Ebola can be confined to West Africa and that it would somehow eventually just go away by itself or after the half-hearted efforts to control the disease?

There is now a flurry of activity since Eric Thomas Duncan came to the United States, developed fever, was handled incompetently and negligently by Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, and eventually died.

How could someone with a fever of 103 degrees, from West Africa moreover, in this age of Ebola be sent home? Was it because he was African?

With the 24 x 7  reporting about Ebola you would think that would’ve been the one time he was held.

It’s now known that at least two nurses at the Texas hospital have been infected. More people could have been infected. Time will show.

But there is no time to waste.

The World Health Organization says that the response thus far has to increase by a factor of 10 to halt Ebola.  

So if Cuba is willing and able to supply more doctors and healthcare workers to help fight Ebola then there must be a way to pay Cuba for the cost.

Cuba would be fighting a battle on behalf of the entire world.

The contingent of Cuban doctors already in West Africa deserve to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize next year.

 

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