Brazil and Cuba join forces against Haiti's cholera
News from Cuba | Wednesday, 24 November 2010
Brazil, Cuba and some Brazilian universities have joined forces to provide health care to cholera-ridden Haiti, including building a treatment center near its capital, the Brazilian Health Ministry said Monday.
The ministry said it signed agreements with Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul and Federal University of Santa Catarina to set up a network of health clinics and train 2,340 health workers in Haiti.
“All the activities will be organized with the collaboration of health teams from Haiti and Cuba made up of doctors, nurses and epidemiologists,” it said.
A separate deal is expected to be signed this week with Cuba and the World Health Organization to create a cholera treatment center in Carrefour, near Port-au-Prince, to contain the cholera epidemic, the ministry said.
The deals are part of the humanitarian and financial aid package Brazil promised after Haiti's devastating Jan. 12 earthquake that killed some 250,000 people and left 1.3 million homeless.
The epidemic that broke out in mid-October has so far killed more than 1,300 and infected more than 57,000, putting in question Sunday's presidential election.
