By Patricia Grogg
HAVANA, Sep 20 2005 (IPS)

The international team of doctors created by Cuba to deal specifically with natural disasters and epidemics could strengthen risk management systems throughout the Caribbean region, said an official with a specialised United Nations agency.

Margherita Vitale, director of the Caribbean Risk Management Initiative (CRMI), told IPS, “This is the first experience of this kind in the world, and there is no doubt that we will promote it throughout the Caribbean.”

The new medical brigade was officially founded on Monday, as Cuba was in the midst of preparations to confront tropical storm Rita. By Tuesday, the storm had developed into a category 2 hurricane that spared Cuba a direct hit, passing instead off the north coast of Havana and the neighbouring western provinces.

The Henry Reeve Medical Brigade, named after a U.S. citizen who fought in the Cuban war of independence against Spain in the late 19th century, is made up of doctors and other health professionals specially trained to handle epidemiological emergencies and diseases associated with natural disasters.

The brigade is an expanded version of the team of 1,586 doctors assembled on Sept. 4 to provide treatment for the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which struck the southern U.S. states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida on Aug. 29. A total of 970 deaths have been reported as a result of the storm so far.

Washington has yet to respond to Cuban President Fidel Castro’s offer to send these doctors to the storm-ravaged areas of the United States, along with medicines and medical supplies.

“We could not remain indifferent,” said the Cuban leader, emphasising that the offer was genuine, and not aimed at causing “offence or humiliation.”

Castro made his comments at a graduation ceremony held Monday at which 1,905 new Cuban doctors received their diplomas.

The Henry Reeve Brigade was established to provide immediate medical aid in any country hit by a major medical emergency, especially as a result of natural disasters like hurricanes or flooding.

Castro noted that in addition to aiding the victims of such disasters, the brigade could also offer help in fighting epidemics like heemorrhagic dengue or HIV/AIDS.

The brigade could be joined in the future by graduates from the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana, where over 12,000 young people from the region and other parts of the world, including the United States, are currently being trained as doctors free of charge.

The school’s first graduating class completed their studies two months ago. In exchange for this free training, they are expected to fulfil the commitment of returning to their countries and working in communities where the services of health professionals are most urgently needed.

According to Vitale, the new medical brigade is “very much at the vanguard” of strategies to confront natural disasters.

Cuba has a well-developed disaster prevention and risk management system that is put into effect well in advance of impending catastrophes, such as hurricanes, which are a frequent and often devastating fact of life in the Caribbean region.

In July, Hurricane Dennis caused only 16 deaths in Cuba, even though it damaged or completely destroyed 120,000 homes and provoked an estimated 1.4 billion dollars in losses.

In preparation for Hurricane Rita, over 109,000 people were evacuated from low-lying coastal regions in danger of flooding or from housing deemed too precarious to safely withstand the torrential rains and gale force winds brought by the storm.

The protection of the Cuban population and economy is the responsibility of the Civil Defence department, a branch of the Ministry of Armed Forces. Its disaster prevention system kicks into force whenever a tropical depression – which could potentially develop into a tropical storm or hurricane – is formed in the region.

The system includes various measures that correspond to four phases: news alerts, warning, emergency and recovery.

Cuba is part of a network created in June by the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) to strengthen national and regional capacities to mitigate risks in the event of natural disasters.

The agreement to create the network was part of the Havana Initiative, signed by ACS representatives at a conference for national authorities on risk management policies, systems and experiences in the Caribbean.

“The network is part of the CRMI, and the goal is to gather together the different initiatives and projects already underway in the Caribbean under a single umbrella,” Vitale told IPS when the initiative was adopted.

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