Cuban FM: “How to Measure the Pain of the Cuban Family Due to the Blockade?”
- Written by Redacción ¡ahora!
- Published in Cuba
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At the beginning of his speech before the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Cuban Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, gave examples on the impacts in the health sector, of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against the island.
"On June 25, 2018, the child Adam López Macías, 181 days old, underwent surgery to correct a congenital defect of inversion of the great arteries of the heart, which threatened his life.
"The surgery lasted 5 hours. His delicate condition, a subsequent hypotension and bradycardia forced doctors to keep it with his small sternum open until day 29, which is 96 hours.
"The blockade prevents Cuban children suffering from low postoperative cardiac output, a more frequent complication of cardio-pediatric surgery, to have the best treatment such as the" Advanced Pediatric Ventricular Support System "that produces and protects with patents, the US companies Heart Ware International Inc. of Massachusetts and Thoratec Corporation of Pleasanton.
How to measure this pain and that of his family?
"Adam recovered thanks to the professionalism and consecration of the Cuban health personnel and the effort of a whole country."
It exemplifies that the unjust policy of Washington prevents Cuban children suffering from certain heart conditions from having a better treatment such as the advanced pediatric ventricular support system, produced and protected under patents of two North American companies.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs assures that if the blockade does not exist, it could also be requested - expeditiously to American companies - drugs to treat children suffering from other diseases such as cancer.
In 2017, 224 people died in Cuba for every 100,000 inhabitants without having these treatments due to the blockade.
He said that in the last year, more than 30 US companies refused to sell the Cuban entity MEDICUBA, medicines, supplies and essential equipment for the Cuban health system, or did not respond to its repeated request.