21386: (Hermantin)miami-Herald-During unrest, Cuban doctors treated Haiti's many wounds (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sat, Apr. 17, 2004




CRISIS IN HAITI


During unrest, Cuban doctors treated Haiti's many wounds

About 525 Cuban doctors and nurses were in Haiti during the February revolt
against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The new government will review its
relationship with Cuba.

BY MICHAEL A.W. OTTEY

mottey@herald.com


PORT-AU-PRINCE -- In a dusty courtyard with dying shade trees, clumps of
brown grass and piles of half-burned trash, a team of Cuban doctors and
nurses faced the unimaginable when Haiti's political crisis spiraled into
massive bloodshed.

On that day, the Cubans -- part of the country's 525-member medical mission
here -- treated more than 400 Haitians who had sustained deep gashes from
machete attacks, bullet wounds or burns from being doused with gasoline and
set on fire.

''Hellish,'' is how some of the Cubans describe Feb. 29, when President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide left the country and his angry supporters roamed the
streets on a murderous rampage.

With hospitals closed because of a month-old revolt, tearful relatives,
friends and good Samaritans brought the wounded to the Cubans' dormitory,
laying out victim after victim in the courtyard.

''In my capacity as a doctor it was the worst day I've lived,'' Dr. Héctor
Torres Nuñez, 39, said of the carnage. ``By noon the injured started to
arrive and we worked almost into the evening in what became a makeshift
hospital in the courtyard.''

Even before that day, the Cuban doctors had won the love and respect of many
poor Haitians who now seek them out for medical care or drop by to say
hello.

''I'm very happy with them,'' said Marie-Lourdes Pierre, a nurse at the
overcrowded general hospital in Port-au-Prince. ``Every time you call them,
no matter what time, they come. The patients like them.''

Six hundred Cuban healthcare professionals, sugar industry advisors and
literacy workers are working in Haiti, according to Cuban government
reports. More than 15,000 Cuban medical personnel work in 64 countries, most
of them poor..

The host countries pay the Cuban government a fee based on the number of
doctors and services provided, and provide housing and food allowances
directly to the doctors.

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

Aristide contracted the Cubans to help the hemisphere's poorest nation. But
with a new political reality in Haiti, the Cubans now find themselves in
limbo.

The new interim government looks with great suspicion at anything Aristide
has had his hands in.

Health Minister Dr. Josette Bijou said she is still new to the job and has
not had a chance to look at much, including how much money Haiti is paying
Cuba under the program.

She praised the work of the Cuban doctors and said she had heard good things
about their performance, but Bijou stopped short of saying the relationship
would be continued.

Foreign Minister Yvon Simeon said, however, that he believed any relations
and agreements with Cuba must be reviewed.

''The relationship will have to be evaluated,'' Simeon said. ``It's a very
delicate question that will be the object of discussions at high levels of
the government and Haitian society.''

At the height of the February revolt, there were already doubts about
whether the Cuban health professionals would continue in Haiti because the
Aristide government had not paid Cuba in more than two months, according to
knowledgeable officials.

The Cubans say they want to continue their work in Haiti and do not wish to
get involved in politics.

''Our job is humanitarian,'' said Torres, one of the Cuban doctors in
Port-au-Prince. ``We cooperate with the health ministry of the country.
We're not political.''

Torres, a native of Villa Clara, said the doctors make house calls in
addition to seeing patients at hospitals.

SPARED ATTACKS

Cuban doctors, whose two-story dorm is near the main hospital, became early
targets of thugs who entered the courtyard and stole several vehicles, but
they were spared more serious attacks.

Torres said he and his colleagues could never have imagined the carnage of
Feb. 29.

About 150 of the patients treated had gunshot wounds, some life-threatening,
he said, and the doctors had to improvise to stabilize the wounded. The
International Committee of the Red Cross responded with gauze and other
supplies, he added.

''The Red Cross really helped us save those lives,'' he said.

As the doctors skipped from patient to patient with bad wounds, they also
had to take care of a woman who gave birth amid the chaos.

''The gratitude they give us is a form of payment,'' said Torres, who has
been in Haiti for 30 months. ``It's been significant for me because a lot of
the diseases in Haiti you only see in textbooks. They are diseases that have
been eradicated in other parts of the world.''

COSTLY MEDICINE

Dr. Jorge Alberto Díaz Díaz, 40, an emergency room doctor from Havana, said
the patients he treats here don't have to pay for the service. The
medication, however, is another matter. He said it can be expensive for most
Haitians.

''To save lives you need resources and transportation,'' Díaz said, ``and
sanitary conditions, which the country does not have.''

Despite the tough environment, Díaz said his stay in Haiti has been
rewarding.

''It's been a great experience because each of us has been able to
contribute,'' he said. ``We've learned a lot from the challenges.''

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