Cuban Medical Team Heading for Sierra Leone to Help Fight Ebola Outbreak
Cuba is known the world over for its ability to train excellent doctors and nurses who can then go out to help other countries in need. Currently there are more than 50 000 Cuban-trained healthcare workers in 66 countries. Dr. Roberto Morales Ojeda, minister of public health, has announced that Cuba will send a medical team of 165 people to Sierra Leone to help in the frontline in the Ebola response efforts. This is the largest offer of a foreign medical team from a single country during this outbreak.
Pictured are Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization, and Dr. Roberto Morales Ojeda, Cuba's minister of public health. Photo courtesy of WHO/M. Missioneiro.
Cuba is known the world over for its ability to train excellent doctors and nurses who can then go out to help other countries in need. Currently there are more than 50 000 Cuban-trained healthcare workers in 66 countries. Dr. Roberto Morales Ojeda, minister of public health, has announced that Cuba will send a medical team of 165 people to Sierra Leone to help in the frontline in the Ebola response efforts. This is the largest offer of a foreign medical team from a single country during this outbreak.
“Money and materials are important, but those two things alone cannot stop Ebola virus transmission,” says Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO). “Human resources are clearly our most important need. We need most especially compassionate doctors and nurses, who will know how to comfort patients despite the barriers of wearing personal protective equipment and working under very demanding conditions.”
The Cuban team consists of 100 nurses, 50 doctors, three epidemiologists, three intensive care specialists, three infection control nurses and five social mobilization officers, all overseen by epidemiologist Dr. Jorge Juan Delgado Bustillo.
All of the Cuban healthcare workers have more than 15 years’ experience and have worked in other countries facing natural disasters and disease outbreaks. Some of the workers have already been working in Sierra Leone and Guinea for some years and are willing to continue their service there.
Once they have all followed WHO-standard infection control training in Cuba, the team will pack supplies of PPE and travel to Sierra Leone in early October. They will stay there for six months, working in shifts in smaller teams in Ebola treatment centres and community clinics.
Dr. Bruce Aylward, assistant director at WHO, says, “Those of us who have been working on the response efforts at WHO know how truly valuable this offer is. Many countries have offered money but no other country has offered such a large number of workers to go in and help do the most difficult jobs in this crisis.”
Source: WHO
CDC Urges Vigilance: New Recommendations for Monitoring and Testing H5N1 Exposures
July 11th 2025With avian influenza A(H5N1) infections surfacing in both animals and humans, the CDC has issued updated guidance calling for aggressive monitoring and targeted testing to contain the virus and protect public health.
IP LifeLine: Layoffs and the Evolving Job Market Landscape for Infection Preventionists
July 11th 2025Infection preventionists, once hailed as indispensable during the pandemic, now face a sobering reality: budget pressures, hiring freezes, and layoffs are reshaping the field, leaving many IPs worried about their future and questioning their value within health care organizations.
A Helping Hand: Innovative Approaches to Expanding Hand Hygiene Programs in Acute Care Settings
July 9th 2025Who knew candy, UV lights, and a college kid in scrubs could double hand hygiene adherence? A Pennsylvania hospital’s creative shake-up of its infection prevention program shows that sometimes it takes more than soap to get hands clean—and keep them that way.
