Cuban medical brigade awarded int'l prize for Ebola fight

If any one person can embody Cuba's efforts to improve healthcare around the world, it is Dr. Felix Baez Sarria, who contracted and overcame the deadly Ebola virus to help lead the global fight against the scourge.
   As part of Cuba's Henry Reeve International Medical Brigade, which was at the frontlines of the Ebola fight in West Africa in 2014, Baez received the 2017 Dr. Lee Jong-wook Memorial Prize for Public Health, during a ceremony at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland earlier this week.
   Baez, a specialist in internal medicine, was part of the first contingent of the brigade to be posted to Sierra Leone, where he contracted the virus a month later, in November 2014. He was evacuated to Switzerland, and treated at a Geneva University Hospital, where, he said, "they saved my life."
   "I was humbled and enriched by my whole experience, both as a professional and as an individual. I am much more sensitive to the risks facing our patients -- the possibility of death in such situations, and the need to die with dignity," he said.
   "My attitude to the disease also changed -- Ebola is not a death sentence. With a rapid response, confidence in the protocols and in our equipment, Ebola can be beaten," Baez said.
   Once recovered, Baez returned to Sierra Leone in January 2015 to continue his mission.
   That dedication, more than anything, reflects the philosophy of Cuba's medical missions and merits the award, which according to the WHO is presented to individuals or groups, governmental or otherwise, "who have made an outstanding contribution to public health and extended far beyond the call of normal duties."
   "For the Henry Reeve Medical Brigade, the award ... is an invaluable recognition of our work and an incentive to continue to extend our solidarity and assistance to all people facing emergencies or natural disasters," said Baez.
   Cuba's Health Minister Roberto Morales was also on hand to receive the recognition, which comes with a 100,000 U.S.-dollar prize.
   Cuba's history of health cooperation dates as far back as 1960, when its then leader Fidel Castro dispatched doctors and nurses "trained in disaster medicine and infectious diseases containment" to Chile following a catastrophic earthquake, said the WHO.
   The Cuban brigades have attended to more than 3.5 million people in 21 countries around the globe, including in Latin America and Asia.
   The more than 7,400 Cuban healthcare workers who volunteer in the brigades have faced some of the worst natural disasters and epidemics of the past 10 years, with the WHO estimating they have saved some 80,000 lives.
   Castro was moved to create the Henry Reeve emergency response contingent following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, which destroyed much of the U.S. city of New Orleans in August 2005, killing more than 1,800 residents.
   The brigade was named after a young U.S. doctor who died in the 19th century fighting for Cuba's independence from Spanish colonial rule.
   Castro offered to send the brigade to help the victims of Katrina, but the then U.S. president George W. Bush refused the offer.
   Later that same year, in October, 688 brigade volunteers headed to flood-ravaged Guatemala, and just weeks later, the brigade was sent to Pakistan, after a powerful 7.6-magnitude earthquake killed 70,000 people and injured over 100,000.
   Since then, the brigade has consistently aided victims of natural disasters, including the 2015 Nepal quake and 2016 Hurricane Matthew in Haiti.
   To date, the brigade's biggest challenge has been the fight to contain the Ebola epidemic in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, saving some 7,000 lives.
   Today, more than 40,000 Cuban doctors and nurses are working to improve healthcare in 62 countries, and the Henry Reeve Brigade stands ready to attend to the victims of any natural disaster or serious epidemic.
Sri Lanka deploys more troops as flood toll climbs to 177
KALUTARA, Sri Lanka, May 29, 2017 (AFP) - Thousands of Sri Lankan troops battled Monday to get relief supplies to nearly half a million people displaced by the island's worst flooding for 14 years, which has killed 177 people.
The military said a lull in torrential monsoon rains allowed it to deploy aircraft, boats and ground troops to evacuate people from flooded areas, deliver essentials and recover bodies.
Some half a million people have had to abandon their homes due to the heavy rains, which have brought flooding and landslides to large parts of the island.
Sri Lanka is regularly hit by flooding at the start of the annual monsoon. However, carpenter J. H. Siripala, who lives in one of the areas worst hit, said he had never seen it this bad.
"I have lived in this area for 27 years and we have gone through floods, but never experienced this much water," the 62-year told AFP in Kalutara district on the southwest coast as a navy boat carried him to safety.
"I thought it was my end," he said as he recalled how the water level suddenly rose on Sunday, covering his head, before he was pulled to safety.
Dhanushka Fernando said his house was under eight feet (2.5 metres) of water on Sunday. "We had floods in 2003 but not this much water," the 28-year-old told AFP.
In May 2003 250 people were killed and 10,000 homes destroyed after a similarly powerful monsoon.
The official death toll rose to 177 on Monday after soldiers dug out the bodies of a woman and a child from under tonnes of mud following a landslide in Ratnapura, the island's gem capital.
The Disaster Management Centre said another 109 people were missing.
Nearly 2,000 houses have suffered structural damage or been completely destroyed, according to official figures.
A Mi-17 transport helicopter crash-landed Monday while trying to deliver food and other essentials to a marooned village in the southern area of Baddegama. However, air force spokesperson Gihan Seneviratne said there were no casualties.
- International aid -
Military spokesperson Roshan Seneviratne said a let-up in the rains had allowed troops to access cut-off villages.
Sri Lanka has deployed 1,800 soldiers and 1,100 naval personnel to evacuate people and ferry food and other essentials to affected areas.
The paramilitary Civil Defence Force said it was deploying about 2,000 personnel while the police have sent their elite commandos to help.
The government said floodwaters were beginning to recede on Monday but some low-lying areas remained heavily inundated.
All schools in flood-hit areas, including the capital Colombo, will be closed for a week, it said.
As the rains eased in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and parts of India issued warnings over Cyclone Mora, which is expected to make landfall on Tuesday.
Bangladeshi authorities ordered all fishing crews to return to shore and advised people living in the south-eastern area of Cox's Bazar to move to higher ground.
Sri Lanka has sought international assistance, with India sending two naval ships laden with supplies over the weekend. A third ship was expected this week, officials said.
The United Nations said it would donate water containers, water purification tablets and tarpaulins while the World Health Organization will support medical teams in affected areas.

Japan had promised portable generators and a team of experts to help with relief work.