Resumo em Inglês:

Haiti is a country that appears fleetingly in the English-speaking media, when stricken by disaster or more recently by epithets. Perhaps few are aware that Haiti was the first independent nation in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the world’s first black republic—independence declared on January 1, 1804—in a revolution led by former slaves who defeated Napoleon’s 40,000-strong colonial forces. Or that, when others abandoned the independence wars against Spain, Simón Bolívar appealed to Haitian president Alexandre Pétion and with Pétión’s troops and material aid, went on to free slaves across Spanish-held colonies in Latin America. Over the centuries, the Haitian people have indeed been beset by disasters, both natural and man-made. But they have also stood against daunting odds and have received solidarity from their hemispheric neighbors, Cuba among the countries allied with Haiti’s attempts to provide for its people. In this Retrospective, MEDICC Review reprints excerpts from a blog by Senior Editor Conner Gorry, who, during February and March 2010, was embedded in the disaster-response medical team sent from Cuba after the January 12 earth-quake. The team reinforced nearly 500 Cuban health per-sonnel already on the ground long term in 120 communities. Some 700 of the 1300 new arrivals were students or graduates of Cuba’s Latin American School of Medicine from 27 countries. Haitian graduates now number 1044. The international contingent (named after Henry Reeve, a Brooklyn-born general in Cuba’s own independence struggle)—became the largest medical relief effort assembled after the quake. The vivid stories here take us back to the urgency and chaos of those first weeks and months after disaster struck. But Haitian, Cuban and other Cuban-trained doctors dedicated to Haiti’s recovery—its long-term health care needs and strengthened public health system—provide an example of commitment to social equity and human solidarity in the face of enormous challenges. And their work with those from other countries proves effective cross-border, cross-cultural collaboration can work. Today, there are 664 Cuban health professionals collabo-rating in Haiti, 175 of them doctors posted throughout the country. In 2017 alone, they carried out 2.64 million patient consults, performed 40,842 surgeries, and delivered 5788 babies (many times working with local midwives). They labor in 21 community reference hospitals built with funds from Venezuela; 31 rehabilitation centers, also built after the 2010 earthquake; 14 health centers; and 29 sentinel sites for epidemiological surveillance (mainly for cholera and vector-borne diseases). A national workshop for orthotics and prosthetics was also established to assist earthquake victims, with equipment and other resources provided by Cuba. The Editors