Cuba’s Approach to Fighting COVID-19

At Delmas 33, a camp for displaced Haitians in Port-au-Prince, a woman grimaces as a Cuban doctor administers a vaccination provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) on February 16, 2010. UN Photo/Sophia Paris.

By Cindy Domingo
Co-chair, WILPF’s Cuba and the Bolivarian Alliance Issue Committee

April 2020

“He who says he is not afraid is a superhero, but we are not superheroes, we are revolutionary doctors.” These words were spoken by Dr. Leonardo Fernandez, a 68-year-old intensive care specialist from Cuba and part of the Cuban healthcare team of 36 doctors and 15 nurses that arrived in Italy on March 22, at the request of the Italian government, to assist in the fight against COVID-19.

But this is not the first time that Dr. Fernandez has traveled to other countries in the face of natural disasters, disease, or pandemics. He has served on eight international medical missions including Nicaragua, Pakistan, and East Timor. Dr. Fernandez was also part of the hundreds of Cuban healthcare workers who were decisive in the fight against Ebola in Liberia and Guinea.

However, this is the first time that Cuba’s medical teams have been dispatched to a developed nation that has rich resources. The Cubans will be bringing with them the antiviral medication, Interferon Alpha 2B, that Cuba developed and is being produced in cooperation with the Chinese government. Interferon Alpha 2B is one of the antiviral medications being used in China’s successful battle with COVID-19.

Interferon Alpha 2B was first developed by Cuba in 1986 at Cuba’s Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. It is an immune boosting antiviral medication that has been used in the treatment of dengue fever, HIV/AIDS, Ebola, hepatitis B and C, shingles, and now COVID-19.  

Another Cuban medical mission composed of 144 health workers will be going to Jamaica, 50 to Suriname, 136 to Venezuela, and others will be going to Nicaragua and Grenada. The team traveling to Venezuela will join 2,000 Cuban doctors already in the country who are working with local communities in the training of the population and professionals in health assessments and treatment.

On March 18, Cuba became the lone nation to accept the British cruise ship MS Braemar carrying 1,000 passengers, which had 50 of its passengers and crew displaying symptoms of, or diagnosed with, COVID-19. Cuba then facilitated the return of these passengers to England under the strict guidelines of the World Health Organization. In a recent statement, Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez stated, “Let’s reinforce healthcare, solidarity, and international cooperation.” For Cuba, this approach is the “vaccine” to help stop COVID-19 and has been their approach since 1963.

Cuba’s offer to assist countries in their fight against COVID-19 comes in the midst of their own fight. As of March 22, Cuba had 40 cases of COVID-19 and 10 deaths ranging from the ages of 18-94 years old. Recently, Cuba limited entrance into their country to only Cuban residents and it is closely monitoring all returning Cubans. However, their fight against the virus is anchored by its community-driven public health system and tri-level medical system, and by a centralized, unified response of its government.

Cuba’s History of Healthcare Solidarity

Cuba’s medical missions began in 1963 when it sent 55 doctors, nurses, and technicians to reestablish Algeria’s healthcare system and to take care of combatants and orphaned children resulting from the war of independence from France. This assistance came at a great sacrifice for Cuba since half of their 6,000 doctors had left Cuba after the 1959 revolution. From the mid-60s through 1974, Cuba’s foreign policy led the country to send both military and healthcare personnel to Africa, in particular to Guinea-Bissau during their war of independence against Portugal.

After apartheid was defeated in South Africa, Cuba sent more than 450 Cuban doctors and medical personnel from 1996 - 2002 to serve in areas that had no medical services. Cuba’s largest and most extensive medical mission has been with Venezuela, beginning in December 1999 in the aftermath of landslides that killed 20,000 people. At the height of its mission, Cuba provided Venezuela with 31,000 Cuban doctors, dentists, and other medical personnel in exchange for Venezuelan oil.  

Today, there are 50,000 Cuban healthcare workers in 59 countries around the world. In a recent March 21 virtual conference on US-Cuba relations, Dr. Jorge Delgado Bustillo, Director of Cuba’s Medical Cooperation Programs Abroad, stated that since 1963, Cuba has sent a total of 450,000 healthcare workers to 160 countries resulting in 1.6 billion people served with healthcare without any charge to the patient.

And Cuba’s commitment to healthcare as a human right extends beyond sending medical personnel to countries in need. Since 1990, Cuba has provided long-term care for 18,000 victims of the Chernobyl disaster who have suffered from conditions ranging from cancer, skin disorders, and other illnesses attributed to radioactivity. In 1998, in the aftermath of Hurricane Mitch that devastated Nicaragua and Honduras, Cuba created the Latin American School of Medicine/Escuela Latino Americana de Medicina (ELAM) in its commitment to create long-term health solutions for Central America and the Caribbean.

Today, ELAM students come from 124 countries around the world including students from the US. Currently, about 122 students from 29 states, plus Puerto Rico and Washington DC, are enrolled at the school and 33 US students have already graduated with MD degrees. The only commitment these students make are to go back to their home countries and provide medical care to those who are underserved.

More information about ELAM and other efforts in Cuba can be found at ifconews.org.

The Impact of the US Blockade in the Battle against COVID-19

As of March 21, 37 of the 59 countries that Cuba has sent healthcare workers to have reported COVID-19 cases. The US population will not be able to call upon Cuba to aid us in our fight with the virus because of the 60-year-old blockade. We will not be able to call upon Cuba to send doctors or other medical personnel who have the experience in fighting pandemics and in using Interferon Alpha 2B.  

Over the past two years, the Trump administration has strengthened the US blockade, causing great economic suffering for the Cuban people. Our right to travel to Cuba has greatly been impeded with changes to travel licensure rules, restricted airline travel, and total elimination of cruise ship travel to Cuba. Furthermore, the Trump administration has hardened the US rules on countries that continue to trade with Cuba and has allowed the implementation of a clause in the Helms-Burton Act that gives US residents the right to sue companies doing business with Cuba for lost property, a violation of international law.

The pandemic crisis before the world must take precedence over previous foreign policy directives. Cuba has shown its willingness to aid any country in need. Recently, French Parliamentary leader Andre Chassaigne urged France to join other countries who have requested Cuba’s support in the fight against COVID-19.

Ana Silvia Rodriguez, Cuban Ambassador to the United Nations, closed her speech to the over 300 attendees who participated in the March 21 virtual forum on US–Cuba Relations with the following appeal: “The only way to solve this crisis is through cooperation and solidarity. We have to put political agendas aside. We have to put our ideologies aside. And we have to have all countries cooperate in order that we can solve the situation we have in the world today.”  

The video of the March 21-22 video forums will be posted to www.us-cubanormalization.org and there is other information at this site about how we can stand up for normalizing relations with Cuba.

Act now: Call your Congressional Representative and ask him or her to cosponsor Senate Bill 428 (Amy Klobuchar - D, MN) and HR 2404 (Bobby Rush - D, Il-1) that lifts the trade embargo against Cuba. Tell your representative about the importance of Interferon Alpha 2B and the need to work with Cuba in our battle against COVID-19.