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Obi Egbuna Jr Correspondent
T he entire world is focusing on the Ebola pandemic in Africa, for us to say that every ounce of praise and adulation that Cuba’s 461 member medical brigade is well deserved, is without question politically as well as intellectually a gross understatement.
The Cuban medical brigade in West Africa is part of 4 000 Cuban doctors already permanently stationed on the continent and Cuba’s latest gesture is business as usual.
Given this background,us Secretary of State John Kerry’s attempt to validate directly or indirectly Cuba’s commitment to eradicating Ebola in West Africa is misplaced.
If Mr Kerry is so impressed with the Cuban doctors, he should recommend to President Obama along with the us Congress and Senate that Cuban doctors should come to the United States, be allowed to work on native American reservations/concentration camps, prison infirmaries and communities where public hospitals and clinics have been shut down.
Since Secretary Kerry appears to be in the mood to emulate Robin Hood, he can call for the IRS to stop its unlawful harassment of IFCO (Interreligious Foundation for Community Organisation) who not only sponsors humanitarian caravans to Cuba, but oversees the project that provides aspiring us-based medical students the opportunity to study at the Latin American School of Medical Sciences in Cuba.
It will be remembered how the Bush administration ignored Cuba’s offer to send a 1 500 member medical brigade, that specialises in treating people after the occurrence of natural disasters, during Hurricane Katrina.
It must also be noted that Cuba offered the Bush administration assistance after September 11.
The people of Zimbabwe recently witnessed the Minister of Health and Child Care Dr David Parirenyatwa share with the international community, that Cuba and Zimbabwe are now in partnership to ensure that cheap generic drugs are made readily available to cancer patients in Zimbabwe.
This initiative comes at a moment when according to the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe, the most common forms of cancer are kaposi sarcoma, cervical cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer.
The other crucial aspect of this joint effort between Cuba and Zimbabwe is that Cuban oncologists will assist in the treatment of patients in Zimbabwe’s public hospitals.
The cooperation between Zimbabwe and Cuba dates years back.
When freedom loving people all over the world think of revolutionary freedom fighters with a medical background, the three comrades who almost instinctively come to mind are Che Guevara, Agostinho Neto, and Frantz Fanon.
We owe it to Zimbabwe not only to add Minister Parirenyatwa’s father, Samuel, to this pantheon but also the late national hero Dr Swithun Mombeshora, who relinquished his post as the Government Medical Officer at Marondera to commit to the Second Chimurenga full time.
Our people in Southern Africa always appear to be delighted when they discover that Harriet Tubman, like Mozambique’s first President Samora Machel, were both nurses in addition to freedom fighters.
Because the us blockade on Cuba prohibits Cuban doctors from working inside us borders, its citizens are reduced to the role of spectators or better yet window shoppers, when it comes to observing the work of Cuban doctors serving in both friendly and hostile nations that permit them to function on the ground in their countries.
When the so-called African Americans hear about the alliance between Cuba and Zimbabwe to fight cancer, it would come as no surprise if tears rolled down their cheeks with the velocity of the waterfalls at Mosi-Oa-Tunya (commonly referred to as Victoria Falls).
The chances of so called African-American males developing prostate cancer is a staggering 60 percent higher than Caucasians or Hispanics.
African American females, as confirmed by the Office on Women’s Health Department of the us Health and Human Services, have the highest breast cancer, cervical cancer, cancer in general along with diabetes rates amongst women in total.
The National Medical Association which so-called African Americans created in 1896 because we were not allowed to join the American Medical Association, reveals that diabetes is not only the fourth leading cause of death in our communities, but the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure and amputations.
In Cuba recently it was announced that there was a 78 percent reduction in amputations for diabetes patients, the Cubans also said 84 percent of their diabetes patients live to be 78 years old.
The American Diabetes Association has stated up to 111.8 million people in the US either have diabetes or are at risk due to elevated blood sugar levels.
Because Cuba has the lowest HIV and aids rate on the planet and Zimbabwe has the most significant HIV-Reduction rate in Southern Africa, we are forced to confront two extremely critical questions.
The first is why the African Union refuses to establish a joint fund to finance the 4 000 member HIV and AIDS brigade Cuba offered to send to Africa 13 years ago?
The second is why the African Union allowed the former us Secretary of Health Tommy Thompson and his British Counterpart Richard Feacham deny Zimbabwe access to resources at the Global Fund in the second, third, fourth and sixth rounds?
If Africans do a comparative analysis of the philanthropic efforts of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation or the Clinton Foundation, none of the two would measure up to what Cuba has offered.
The people of Zimbabwe were subjected to political grandstanding by Feacham and Thompson because of the seething anger of the Blair and Bush administrations, that stemmed from the monumental land reclamation program spearheaded by President Mugabe and zanu-pf.
As us-eu imperialism appendages like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch continue to accuse Zimbabwe and Cuba of every human rights violations under the sun, our comrades in both nations can humbly reply; yesterday we educated the illiterate today we heal the sick.
Obi Egbuna Jr is the US Correspondent to The Herald and a US-based member of the Zimbabwe-Cuba Friendship Association. His email is [email protected]
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