Cuban medical brigade working in Sri Lanka

From Granma International

GALLE, Sri Lanka.— They fell from the sky, the inhabitants said. And it’s not because here, 130 kilometers from the capital, they are lacking international aid, but that the Cuban doctors are different.

There is a notice up in the camp, written by the locals in English and Sinhalese, that says: “Cuban health care center”, but everyone there knows that these doctors are not just here to combat the diseases that are rife as a consequence of the tsunamis that seriously affected Sri Lanka and other nations in Asia and Africa, but also to try to and provide preventative care for the population in the face of healthcare deficiencies.

Galle was an area that was severely damaged and it is still not known how many of its 80,000 inhabitants died as a result of the disaster. Alleviating the pain of this terrible and sorrowful event is the labor of 24 members of the Cuban medical brigade who arrived in Sri Lanka on January 9.

It consists of 16 doctors, two nurses, two hygiene experts, three specialists from Labiofam and an engineer who is responsible for the electricity plant.

At the head of the brigade is Dr. Pedro Alfonso Aguilar, who tells us that the work of the group is based on four strategies: Taking medical assistance into the larger community, not just those living in the camp, and installing medical posts in the designated area along a 20-kilometer stretch of road. Attention to priority groups, such as the 1,400 pupils from an elementary and junior high school, an home for the elderly and an orphanage. The application of two tons of Biorrat that Labiofam brought which is already providing good results. Educational activities, all aimed at preventing epidemics from breaking out. Dr. Pedro Alfonso Aguilar – from the Medical Cooperation Unit in City of Havana – told us how the 20 patients from the old people’s home were saved and there was not a single death from the tsunami. The residents climbed onto their beds, the water rose up to their chests or necks, and there they waited until the waters subsided.

These elderly people, suffering complaints like sores, ulcers, and high blood pressure, have been attended to by the Cuban team. “They’re still here, and if we don’t go for two days, they call us,” he explained.

Generally speaking, Sri Lankans are very warm people “and especially in Galle, where they have opened their doors to our work. The group has been surprised by how grateful and humble they are,” affirmed the head of the Cuban medical brigade, who concluded by saying: “The members of this group believe in Patria o Muerte. They are active, creative and hardworking and want everything to go well. They are disciplined.  I would go to the end of the world with this group.”