Henry Reeve Brigade arrives in Türkiye following earthquake
News from Cuba | Friday, 10 February 2023
Cuban doctors from the Henry Reeve international medical brigade have arrived in Türkiye, and will soon be arriving in Syria, to assist in the disaster response efforts following the devastating earthquake that hit the two countries earlier this week.
Over 20,000 people have died so far from the earthquake, including more than 3,000 in Syria, a country whose disaster response capabilities and access to international assistance is severely curtailed due to US and European sanctions.
The Henry Reeve Brigade, founded in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, specialises in disaster relief and serious epidemics. Since then, it has served in over 40 countries and has sent specialists to assist in the aftermath of a number of earthquakes, including Kashmir in 2005 and Haiti and Chile in 2010.
During the response to the Kashmir eartquake, more than 2,500 healthcare workers treated 1.7 million patients (73% of earthquake victims) over a period of 8 months, performed 14,000 surgeries, provided 166,000 specialised rehabilitation services and saved more than 2,000 lives. The Brigade left 32 field hospitals and Cuba gave 1,000 scholarships to Pakistani students.
