By Drew Hinshaw in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and
Updated Oct. 9, 2014 9:35 p.m. ET
Sierra Leone’s government welcomes the 165 Cuban health-care workers who came to fight Ebola. Glenna Gordon for The Wall Street Journal
“We
can’t liberate by ourselves a country that does not want to fight,” he wrote
back in a dispirited letter to Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
Instead,
the Argentine-born physician-turned-revolutionary suggested Cuba send something
else: doctors. Since then, Cuba has sent tens of thousands of health workers to
foreign nations. The country sent 2,500 health workers to Pakistan after its
2005 earthquake, and another 1,500 to Haiti after its 2010 earthquake, said
Jorge Delgado Bustillo, head of the Cuban Medical Brigade to Sierra
Leone.
By
comparison, the 165 medics here represent a cautious response.
“We work on malaria, cholera, dengue, a disaster situation, floods in Venezuela, floods in Guatemala, floods in Belize,” Mr. Bustillo said. “But Ebola? It’s a first time for the Cubans.”
In a speech this month, Mr. Castro appeared to be recalling Cuba’s military exploits ahead of the doctors deployment to Sierra Leone. He called them “an army of white coats,” and vowed: “Honor and glory to our valiant fighters for health and life!” according to the excerpts from the speech that appeared in the island’s state-owned Granma newspaper.
The Cubans play down any rivalry with the Americans. “Against Ebola, we can work with anyone,” said Mr. Bustillo. “The United States? Yes, we can.”
On
Wednesday, the Cuban flag stretched across an entire wall in a conference center
here, as doctors squirmed in their seats, waiting more than an hour for Sierra
Leone’s government to officially welcome them. An Australian World Health
Organization official responsible for training them on Ebola care watched in
concern as the Cubans swapped hand-clasps, pats on backs and other potentially
hazardous displays of physical affection. Public-health officials warn Ebola can
spread on contact, with the virus carried in bodily fluids like
sweat.
“They’re
a very cuddly people,” said Katrina Roper, a technical officer with the U.N.
agency. “Tomorrow will be me explaining why they have to stop shaking hands and
sharing things.”
Secretary of State John Kerry on Wednesday exhorted more nations to send health-care workers and other forms of assistance. “We need people to step up now,” he said.
That the U.S. finds itself reliant on a Cold War rival underscores the lopsided humanitarian response to the Ebola epidemic. The U.S. is the biggest donor nation, having pledged to send nearly 4,000 troops and nearly $400 million in other aid. It is sending 65 U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers to staff an Ebola ward for health-care providers in Liberia. More than 2,600 health volunteers have signed up on a government website for possible deployment with aid organizations.
Africa’s biggest trading partner, China, has said it would provide $1 million in cash, $2 million in food and specialists each to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The Asian giant is also sending 170 medical workers to Liberia, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. Currently, 58 Chinese are staffing an Ebola-treatment ward and blood-testing lab off the side of a Chinese-built clinic. Of these, 35 are drivers, handymen and chefs, said Guo Tongshing, the clinic’s chief doctor.
India, with deep trade links and air connections to West Africa, recently pledged to contribute $12.5 million, but no medical personnel. Brazil, which has spent a decade wooing African nations across the Atlantic, has contributed about $413,000.
Russia,
which has also sought to rekindle Cold War allies here, sent a team of eight
virologists to Guinea, once a Soviet outpost, and protective
clothing.
South
Africa—a country eager to cement its leadership role on the continent—has sent a
mobile lab to Sierra Leone. There is no record of any monetary contribution from
the country.
African
health workers are part of the crisis response, though. The African Union has
sent about 75 medical workers, and Uganda, which has extensive experience with
Ebola, has sent 15.
Meanwhile,
Japan, the world’s third-richest economy after the U.S. and China, is sending
$40 million to the cause, but no personnel. Toyota Motor Corp.
7203.TO in
Your
Value Your Change Short position plans
to donate cars to help transport patients.
Even
France, the European country with the most military bases in Africa, has been
slow to send in army medics. The former colonial power will construct and
operate a 50-bed clinic in Guinea, staffed with 15 French medics at a given
time, in addition to Red Cross volunteers, the state agency managing medical
reservists said.
The
U.K. is sending in another 750 personnel to help build the dozens of clinics
needed in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The clinics are required to isolate patients
from their family members and break the viral chain of transmission. But it
isn’t clear who will staff those clinics.
Liberia
alone needs about 10,000 qualified health-care workers, and a similar number are
needed in Sierra Leone, the U.S. government has said. So far, the largest single
medical brigade is from Cuba in Sierra Leone.
“Cuba
is the only one that I know is responding with human resources in terms of
health doctors and nurses,” said Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the chairwoman for the
African Union and South African President Jacob
Zuma ’s ex-wife.
It
won’t be enough, said Abdulai Baratay, a spokesman for Sierra Leone’s
government: “Even though we appreciate the Cubans…we still think that with the
rate at which the virus is spreading, we need more people on the
ground.”
Governments,
China’s included, complain they simply don’t have enough experience with Ebola
to send in large numbers: “This is a big challenge for our scientists,” said
Qian Jun, team leader for the China Center for Disease Control Mobile Laboratory
Team in Sierra Leone.
Indeed,
there was no boot- or hand-washing station at the entrance of China’s Ebola ward
in Sierra Leone’s capital of Freetown, a critical safety measure. Instead, there
was a family of cats living in the doorway, one sleeping on the
steps.
“Every
day our doctors, nurses, they come here on time,” said Dr. Guo, the head of the
clinic. “But sometimes, the Sierra Leoneans, they don’t come.”
This
is the void Cuba is filling. While consultants from the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention are lodged in Radisson Blu resort,—at more than $200 a
night—the 165 Cuban medics are living three to a room in one of Freetown’s
budget hotels. The hotel’s toilets are broken. Flies buzz around soiled
tablecloths where the Cubans eat in cafeteria-style shifts.
“It’s
not Sierra Leone that needs us,” said Yosvany Vera, a 36-year-old doctor working
his way through a greasy plate of rice. “The world needs us.”
—Matina
Stevis in Johannesburg, Megumi Fujikawa in Tokyo, Gregory L. White in Moscow,
Carlos Tejada in Beijing, William Horobin in Paris, Paulo Trevisani in Brasilia
and Gordon Fairclough in New Delhi contributed to this
article.
Write
to Drew
Hinshaw at drew.h...@wsj.com and
Betsy McKay at betsy...@wsj.com
www.minnesotacubacommittee.org
Sunday, October 5, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, St. Paul
7:30: A Night in Havana, concert with Nachito Herrera, introduction by Dr. José Ramón Cabañas, Chief of Mission, Cuban Interests Section, Washington, DC
Monday, October 6, St. Thomas College, Minneapolis
6:30: Forum with Dr. José Ramón Cabañas (registration required)
Tuesday, October 7, 1-103, Hanson Hall, University of Minnesota, West Bank
6:00: Gloria Rolando, Cuban filmmaker, with 1912, Breaking the Silence
Saturday, October 11, Minneapolis institute of Arts
2:00: Gloria Rolando with her new film Reembarque
8:00: Reception/fundraiser with special guest Gloria Rolando, 1611 Xerxes Avenue North, Minneapolis
October 2-22, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, St. Paul
Raíces y Sueños: the Artistry of Cuba, including an exhibit of paintings by Antonio Guerrero, one of the Cuban Five imprisoned in the U.S.
Wednesday, October 22, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, St. Paul
7:30: Creole Choir of Cuba, featured in Reembarque
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Thanks for keeping us informed, Steve! --Werner