Cuban doctors are on the rural frontlines in Haiti’s cholera epidemic

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Monday, 02.28.11
Cuban doctors are on the rural frontlines in Haiti’s cholera epidemic

More than 4,000 people have died of cholera in Haiti, and while the international attention has focused on the country’s capital, Cuban doctors are providing crucial care in rural areas.

BY FRANCES ROBLES
[e-mail]

MIREBALAIS, Haiti -- Wracked by diarrhea, Emmanuel Losier was surprised at what he found when, after two hours on foot, he finally reached the closest cholera treatment center to his central plateau home: plenty of empty beds and Cuban doctors he could not communicate with.

“Without them, the whole country would have been destroyed by now,” Losier said, an IV strapped to his arm and a bucket at his side. “They seem to have a real interest in helping us. I hope they stay.”

Losier was treated last month by Cuba’s medical brigade, a corps of nurses and doctors who experts here say are among the leading health care providers in Haiti’s battle against cholera. He and about a dozen critically ill patients were under a large white tent beside a Mirebalais diagnostic center, which is a joint operation between Cuba, the Haitian Health Ministry, Partners in Health and the University of Miami’s Project Medishare.

As the death toll surpasses 4,000, Haiti is still struggling against challenges of a disease the country had not experienced in 150 years. In rural villages, doctors are often difficult to find. Some urban treatment centers have lots of beds but few patients. Many earthquake displacement camps still lack clean water and toilets, even as some aid groups begin to scale back water chlorination programs. With the epidemic entering its fourth month, the United Nations’ $164 million appeal for cholera funding remains less than half-filled.

More:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/10/2090244/cuban-doctors-are-on-the-rural.html