Cuba is sending 165 health workers to help tackle the
Ebola outbreak in West Africa, officials say.
Doctors, nurses and infection control specialists will
travel to Sierra Leone in October and stay for six months.
The announcement comes as the World Health Organization
says new cases in West Africa are increasing faster than the capacity to manage
them.
More than 2,400 people have died from the virus in recent
months and some 4,700 people have been infected.
I am extremely grateful for the generosity of the Cuban
government and these health professionals”
The death toll remains highest in
Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
World Health Organization (WHO) officials say the number
of people affected is likely to be much greater than current estimates suggest.
In Liberia WHO experts say there is not a single bed left
to treat patients with Ebola.
But the world football association, Fifa, says it is
joining forces with the United Nations to turn the country's national stadium
into a large-scale Ebola treatment unit.
Dr Margaret Chan, director of the WHO, said: "If we
are going to go to war with Ebola we need the resources to fight.
"I am extremely grateful for the generosity of the
Cuban government and these health professionals for doing their part to help us
contain the worst Ebola outbreak ever known."
'Health diplomacy'
She added: "Cuba is world-famous for its ability to train
outstanding doctors and nurses and for its generosity in helping fellow
countries on the route to progress."
Through a global medical programme, doctors have been
deployed to a range of countries, from Algeria to South Africa.
And many consider this medical help to be a central part
of Cuba's international relations.
One of Cuba's most extensive efforts is an eye surgery
programme in Venezuela where thousands of cataract operations have been
performed.
Hundreds of Cuban medical workers were sent to Haiti
during the earthquake in 2010.
The country also trains thousands of overseas medical
students, many of whom return to their home nations to work.
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