Cuban Doctors are Proud to Assist Ebola Victims in Africa

HAVANA, Cuba, Oct 23 (acn) Despite a global alarm over the worst Ebola outbreak on record, Cuban doctors are eager to travel to West Africa and start healing the sick, Reuters news agency reported

Some 15 thousand Cuban medical professionals volunteered for the mission, which proves the internationalist conviction of Cubans, though only 256 have been chose thus far for the job.

Nicknamed as the "army of white robes" and citing a long history of Cuban medical missions in Africa and elsewhere, they speak of a sense of duty and are willing to assume the risks, Reuters reported.

"We know that we are fighting against something that we don't totally understand. We know what can happen. We know we're going to a hostile environment,". "But it is our duty. That's how we've been educated," said 63-year-old Leonardo Fernandez, quoted by the agency.

The Ebola virus has killed more than 4,500 people since March, mostly in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. The numbers include more than 200 healthcare workers.

Some Cuban 165 doctors and nurses have already arrived in Sierra Leone and another 91 flew on Tuesday for six-month missions for Liberia and Guinea.

Those recruited for the Ebola missions underwent three weeks of training at the Pedro Kouri Tropical Medicine Institute on the outskirts of Havana, where trainers set up a field hospital of tents to simulate conditions in West Africa.

Should any Cuban doctors or nurses contract Ebola in West Africa, they will be treated at a special site for international aid workers, Jorge Perez, the director of the Pedro Kouri institute, told Reuters.

Ivan Rodriguez, 50, said his family was supportive and proud: "I would have felt disappointed and sad if they would have been afraid for me to take this step," Rodriguez said. "Now, there are 15,000 (volunteers). I'm convinced there could be 15,000 more."