Russian and Cuban experts are studying the Oropouche virus in Havana
EFE (via 14ymedio), Havana, 6 August 2024 — The European Union (EU) has allocated 500,000 euros of humanitarian aid to Cuba to finance the most urgent health needs of children, adolescents and women of reproductive age, the Department of Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid of the European Commission (ECHO) reported on Monday in Havana. “With these funds we intend to support the local capacity to provide health services and improve access to medications and medical equipment that help meet essential needs,” said the EU ambassador to Cuba, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa.
Humanitarian aid will benefit almost 30,000 people, including high-risk newborns, children, adolescents, pregnant women and women of reproductive age, according to an ECHO statement. The Maternal and Child Program (PAMI) is going through a bad time: so far this year, the infant mortality rate stands at 7.4 per thousand, the results for the 34,648 live births and 258 deaths for the year up to July 11.
In theory, the European funds will make it possible to acquire medications, supplies and medical equipment, and improve access to essential sexual and reproductive health services. The statement also specifies that this funding will be given to the provinces of Havana, Sancti Spíritus and Holguin, and will be implemented by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Since 1994, the EU has financed more than 107.5 million euros in humanitarian projects for Cuba to respond to emergencies and catastrophes, as well as to strengthen the preparation of the most vulnerable communities and their institutions for new contingencies.
Cuban Healthcare has hit rock bottom and makes use of all the international aid offered
Cuban Healthcare has hit rock bottom and makes use of all the international aid offered. Specialists from Russia working with several Cubans are conducting updated studies on tropical diseases this week, including Oropouche fever, which this summer has spread to the 15 provinces of the Island, state media reported on Monday.
The visit to Havana by experts of the Federal Service for the Supervision of Consumer Protection and Welfare of Russia will last until August 8, in the context of bilateral cooperation in “guaranteeing the health and epidemiological well being of the population.” Its objective will be to “update the research on tropical infections” and carry out “a series of studies of similar infections” that are recorded in the Caribbean, according to Prensa Latina.
For the research, high-tech testing systems developed by Russian specialists will be used. These joint studies take place at a time when the cases of Oropouche, which is transmitted through the mosquito bite of the culicidae and culicoid species (or jején, as it is popularly known), circulate for the first time in the country.
This illness is characterized by fever, headaches, muscle and joint pains; sometimes vomiting and diarrhea are also reported. The first cases were confirmed at the end of May in two municipalities in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba. Two months later it had been detected in all 15 provinces.
Translated by Regina Anavy
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