Organization (WHO)
Date: 17 Sep 2008
WHO/PAHO supports health response to Hurricane Ike in Cuba
17 September 2008 ¦ HAVANA/GENEVA - Cuban medical facilities have been
extensively damaged by extreme weather events in recent weeks,
jeopardizing health care delivery in the country's west. In response,
the World Health Organization (WHO) has secured US$524 000 to re-equip
health facilities and provide maternal and child health care in Pinar
del Rio province and on Isla de la Juventud, off the southern coast.
Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Hanna caused widespread damage in
western Cuba, rendering some health facilities inoperable and severely
hampering disease surveillance and control activities.
In response, WHO/PAHO has developed a US$1.2 million project to buy and
distribute medical supplies and equipment (including beds and
sterilizing and operating theater equipment). So far, US$524 000 has
been provided by the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund.
The priority for WHO/PAHO is to ensure that health care needs are met,
particularly those of vulnerable groups such as pregnant women,
children, the elderly and those with disabilities and injuries. The
project aims to ensure access to health services for nearly 200 000
people now living in shelters and another 2 million affected in Cuba's
eastern and western provinces.
"Cuban authorities must be praised for the health services they have
managed to provide their people during the ongoing hurricane season, but
the devastating effects of Hurricane Gustav and Tropical Storm Hanna
have placed a huge burden on the country's health system," said Dr. Lea
Guido, PAHO/WHO Representative in Cuba. "WHO will now support the Cuban
Ministry of Public Health to re-establish health care services and
provide the urgent care that its population needs."
Health infrastructure in western Cuba (Pinar del Rio and Isla de la
Juventud) was severely damaged: 314 health facilities, 26 hospitals, 18
polyclinics, 191 family consultation offices, 14 homes for the elderly
and 42 pharmacies, according to official sources. The tertiary care
facility on Isla de la Juventud, the 396-bed capacity general hospital,
'Héroes de Baire,' delivers care to a population of 87 000, but the
facility has been severely damaged and is not functional. Three primary
health care clinics on the island have also been damaged, as well as the
main emergency unit, the epidemiological surveillance unit, and the
municipal warehouse for medical supplies.
In the province of Pinar del Rio, on the Cuban mainland, the 440-bed
hospital 'Comandante Pinares' in the municipality of San Cristobal was
seriously damaged. This hospital normally provides medical services to
almost 200 000 people living in eastern Pinar del Rio. A health center
was also totally destroyed and a large number of family doctor
facilities are non-functional, as well as pharmacies, municipal
epidemiological and surveillance centers, laboratories and other primary
health care facilities.
"The WHO/PAHO project aims to quickly re-equip affected health
facilities, strengthen laboratories and epidemiological surveillance
sites, and establish an early warning system for outbreaks of diseases
such as dengue fever," said Dr Eric Laroche, Assistant Director-General
for WHO's Health Action in Crises Cluster.
Rapid rehabilitation of damaged health facilities is underway and a
damage assessment is being conducted in eastern Cuba, where significant
health sector damage also occurred. WHO/PAHO and other agencies will
make a field visit to these impacted areas. 'Hospitals Safe from
Disasters' is the theme of the 2008-09 World Disaster Reduction
Campaign, which is raising awareness about the need to ensure that
health facilities can continue to function in emergency situations.
For more information or interviews, please contact:
Daniel Epstein
Communications Officer
WHO Regional Office for the Americas
Washington D.C., USA
Telephone: +1 202 974 3459
E-mail: epsteind@paho.org
Paul Garwood
Communications Officer
Health Action in Crises
WHO, Geneva
Telephone: +41 22 791 3462
Mobile: +41 794 755546
E-mail: garwoodp@who.int
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-7JKMAF?OpenDocument
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