CUBAN MEDICAL ASSISTANCE TO ANDORRA
This morning I woke up to read the good news that Cuban Medical Brigade is in the tiny Pyrenean country of ANDORRA helping them with their efforts to combat COVID-19 virus.
ANDORRA is a small principality sandwiched between France and Catalunya.
From Wikipedia:
Andorra (/ænˈdɔːrə/ (
listen), also UK: /ænˈdɒrə/; Catalan: [ənˈdorə]), officially the Principality of Andorra (Catalan: Principat d'Andorra), also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra[12] (Catalan: Principat de les Valls d'Andorra), is a sovereign landlocked microstate on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees, bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south. Believed to have been created by Charlemagne, Andorra was ruled by the count of Urgell until 988, when it was transferred to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell. The present principality was formed by a charter in 1278. It is known as a principality as it is a diarchy headed by two princes: the Catholic bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain, and the president of the French Republic.
listen), also UK: /ænˈdɒrə/; Catalan: [ənˈdorə]), officially the Principality of Andorra (Catalan: Principat d'Andorra), also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra[12] (Catalan: Principat de les Valls d'Andorra), is a sovereign landlocked microstate on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees, bordered by France to the north and Spain to the south. Believed to have been created by Charlemagne, Andorra was ruled by the count of Urgell until 988, when it was transferred to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Urgell. The present principality was formed by a charter in 1278. It is known as a principality as it is a diarchy headed by two princes: the Catholic bishop of Urgell in Catalonia, Spain, and the president of the French Republic.
Andorra is the sixth-smallest nation in Europe, having an area of 468 square kilometres (181 sq mi) and a population of approximately 77,006. The Andorran people are a Romance ethnic group of originally Catalan descent. Andorra is the 16th-smallest country in the world by land and the 11th-smallest by population. Its capital, Andorra la Vella, is the highest capital city in Europe, at an elevation of 1,023 metres (3,356 feet) above sea level. The official language is Catalan, but Spanish, Portuguese, and French are also commonly spoken.
Tourism in Andorra sees an estimated 10.2 million visitors annually. Andorra is not a member of the European Union, but the euro is its official currency. It has been a member of the United Nations since 1993. In 2013, Andorra had the highest life expectancy in the world at 81 years, according to the Global Burden of Disease Study.
(Cuban doctors and nurses leaving Havana for Andorra via Spain)
US government objects to this magnanimous gesture on the part of the Cuban Doctors and their government on some economic constructs. Why do US take or truly rob so many of the bright doctors from India, Pakistan, Mexico and every single developing country so that they can staff their hospitals and facilitate foreign doctors’ visa so that they can fulfil, prison and government jobs, needs? What moral authority do they have when non-medical businessmen run hospitals and health plans sucking out most of the funds generated by the doctors and nurses? Highest paid hospital workers are not doctors in USA but non-medical administrators. USA objections over Cuba’s international Medical help is immoral and mired in their 60-year-old mentality of blockade and sanctions which has not broken the will power of the Cuban people. The majority of the American people DO NOT share the opinions of their government towards Cuba
I genuinely felt happy and proud of my colleagues in Cuba, to leave the country at this time of peril, leave your loved ones behind, so that you can go to Lombardy with its high death rate in Italy or 13 other countries and missions to help the local health system to combat this pandemic.
A group of doctors arrived last week in Madrid and then went to Andorra. Cuban doctors are already in Italy in the city which is the hardest hit.
Here is the article that is published in the New York Times
from the Economist which is not always Cuban-friendly but has good journalism. The following excerpts in RED are from the April 4, 2020 edition
When the number of patients mounts but the number of healers does not, whom do you call? That was the question for Giulio Gallera, the health minister in Lombardy, the Italian region worst hit by covid-19. The army was erecting a field hospital with 32 beds in a car park in Crema, 50km (30 miles) south-east of Milan. But what about doctors to attend them? “Someone said to me: ‘Write to the Cuban ministry of health,’” recalls Mr Gallera. Barely a week later, on March 22nd, 52 medics arrived from Havana, waving Cuban and Italian flags. Locals sent them warm clothing and bicycles for their commute.
Which other country in the world can organize 52 professionals and be on their way within ONE WEEK ?
Cuba’s Central Medical Collaboration Unit, which for six decades has sent doctors across the world, is having a busy month. Some 14 countries, from Angola to Andorra, have received a total of 800 doctors and nurses. Politicians in Buenos Aires and Valencia in Spain, and indigenous groups in Canada, are pressing national governments to request Cuban brigades.
Cuban medical professionals leaving for Lombardy, Italy.
The false pride of USA government prevents their own people benefitting from Cuban generosity. After the Hurricane Katrina, Fidel had offered 1500 doctors to come and help but then president Bush refused. You can judge the results of the US governments efforts even now, a decade later.
It is generally agreed by the Americans that the approach and care offered by the US government to its own people during this crisis has been haphazard and un-scientific and not humane. (even so far into the epidemic, to get yourself tested is out of the possibility of most American people, you need to see a doctor (money, time, chance of getting an infection), if he approves you have to call to make an appointment and then go to the place (car and transport?). They boast that they have tested over a million people, but forget to tell you that the population of USA is 340 million .. compare the testing rate to other countries big and small …and see for yourself whether South Korea or tiny Cayman Islands.
Medical students have taken the temperatures of 500,000 elderly Cubans to detect cases of covid-19. Cuba has recorded 212 cases, compared with 1,284 in the Dominican Republic, which has nearly as many people.
There is a proverb: People who live in Glass Houses should not throw stones.
Instead of criticizing the government of Cuba, let us praise the humanitarian efforts of these dedicated Cuban doctors who travel wide and far to offer help. I have seen them in action in Africa, South Pacific Islands, South America. NO OTHER COUNTRY ON EARTH DOES HUMANITARIAN MEDICAL MISSIONS SO WIDELY AND PASSIONATELY AS DOES CUBA
A street scene in Vedado, La Habana, Cuba
