Disarm and the Year in Review
December 21, 2005
We're VERY proud of the success of Disarm's Cuban Medical Project, which has provided life-saving medicine, medical supplies, and important surgical delegations over the past 11 years. Our most recent efforts included a shipment of HIV/AIDS meds to Cuban's living with HIV across the island, and another pediatric surgical team to one of our partner hospitals in Havana.
Disarm is also excited about the expansion of our incredibly successful medical projects to help improve the lives of women and children in Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Guatemala is a country of nearly 12 million people, yet there are only nine doctors for every 10,000 people. Nicaragua's statistics are even more disturbing, with only six doctors per 10,000. These two countries share severe shortages in healthcare, including a lack of trained staff and supplies, and are in serious need of the help Disarm can quickly and efficiently provide.
Click Here or Scroll down to read a summary of Disarm's most notable activities this year.
In Cuba, Disarm joined with International Volunteers in Urology (IVU) to continue one of our most successful projects to-date. For six years, our Cuban Medical project has sponsored U.S. surgical teams that have worked with a dedicated staff at Pediatric Hospital Cerro in Havana. This partnership has enabled Cuban surgeons to acquire a whole new set of skills that will allow them to better treat complex pediatric urologic patients. This year we completed surgeries on 13 children.
Our work with Cuba's neighborhood policlinics continues, and Disarm is proud to report that we have now delivered more than $72 million in desperately needed medicine and medical supplies to some 60 neighborhood clinics.
And our work with those living with HIV/AIDS in Cuba continues. Since 1998, when our first shipment of AIDS medicines went to Cuba, Disarm has delivered more than $3 million worth of pharmaceuticals to patients throughout Cuba, including AZT, Advair, Crixivan, Epivir, and Trizivir. Thousands of Cuban patients are alive as a direct result of these donations, and we are planning yet another shipment shortly after the New Year.
In Central America, Disarm has expanded its life-saving efforts in Guatemala and Nicaragua, where we work in partnership with local hospitals, healthcare officials and public health ministries. In October, Disarm sent a team of pediatric urologists to Managua where they corrected urologic deformities in 20 children and taught new skills to Nicaraguan surgeons. These efforts have enabled Nicaraguan surgical urologists to perform these state-of-the-art surgical procedures on their own. Since Disarm's first visit in 2004, Nicaraguan urologists have independently completed more than 50 complex urologic surgeries.
Disarm is also working closely with the Los Pipitos Foundation in Managua to increase their ability to identify and treat developmental disabilities in young children. Los Pipitos is the only organization working with developmentally disabled children in Nicaragua. In October, Disarm sponsored a three-day lecture series for Los Pipitos staff that will benefit the 75,000+ children and families treated by the foundation each year.
We are always looking for new and creative ways to expand our medical program to help improve and save lives. Please contact Joshua Bardfield if you know of a worthy project that could use our help.
Legislative Issues and Current Events: Disarm continues to lobby Congress for an end to the 45-year-old trade and travel ban on Cuba. This year we suffered setbacks in Congress, including the failure to pass trade and travel amendments that had been approved in previous years. This was a disappointing legislative session, and the right-wing in Congress worked hard preserve the draconian policies we have been fighting to overturn for so long.
In July, Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) and his cronies blocked legislation that previously shared majority support in both Houses of Congress. DeLay aggressively lobbied freshman members using lies and misrepresentations, and distorted the language of amendments up for vote which would have eased the embargo.
In addition, a small but zealous anti-Cuba lobby, the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, elevated their efforts with the promise of campaign contributions. All 36 members who voted against legislation to modify the embargo received at least $1,000 from this pro-embargo, anti-Cuba PAC.
Most recently, Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND) introduced a bill to eliminate funding for the enforcement of the Cuba travel ban, confident he would obtain majority support in the Senate. But right wing Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) attached an amendment to prevent underage women from crossing state lines for abortions. It would have been necessary to vote for Ensign's amendment if a Senator wanted to support Dorgan's bill, and Dorgan withdrew his legislation.
In more encouraging developments, on November 8th the United Nations General Assembly showed record support for an abolition of the U.S. embargo of Cuba, by a vote of 182 to 4. This is the 14th consecutive year that the UN has voted against the embargo.
There is renewed hope for the coming year, and we plan to be in the forefront of efforts to end the embargo once and for all in 2006.
