Cuban Medical Cooperation in Haiti: Excellent, Says PAHO

During a visit to La Paz University Hospital, one of the three facilities of this type where Cuban personnel are currently working in the Haitian capital, she said: “At the beginning we were desperate because we could not get our team in touch with the Cuban medical brigade working here. We wanted to let them know that PAHO´s ProMed medical center was active.”
   

“As the Cubans were already in Haiti before the earthquake, they were better prepared,” she added.
   

Roses announced that PAHO will continue coordinating international cooperation, and collaborating with Haiti and with the Dominican Republic, particularly in the border, where the Dominicans are providing assistance.
   

She explained that many volunteers continue arriving but, due to the lack of infrastructure, they are beginning a selection process because the kind of people needed today is different from those needed at first and they are being located in places where there is the necessary logistical supply and organization.
   

The PAHO executive stressed that although the priority is to provide medical assistance to the victims of the earthquake, it is also necessary to re-implement the programs against tuberculosis, HIV and malaria.
   

“We are beginning to work in vaccination programs, so I don´t think there will be any major epidemic catastrophes in Haiti,” she concluded.