Information released by the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) points out that the US policy denies Cuba the right to acquire technologies, raw materials, reagents, diagnostic means, medicines, devices, equipment and spare parts necessary for medical care.

For example, US technologies or with over 10 percent of components from that country cannot be acquired by Cuba.

All those inputs must be obtained in geographically distant markets or through a third country, which leads to a peak in their costs, the text refers.

According to the document, in some cases it is necessary to send patients abroad at a much higher cost than to perform the procedure in the national territory if the technology were available.

In Covid-19 times, this policy, far from minimizing its impact, tightened to unprecedented levels, which is why 2020 was the year with the greatest impact in terms of both numbers and examples, according to the press release.

The blockade regulations prevented the arrival of donations of facemasks and diagnostic kits, and it was impossible to buy pulmonary ventilators from a US company.

Likewise, several banks refused to transfer donations made by the Swiss solidarity organizations MediCuba-Switzerland and Swiss-Cuba Association, through which funds were to be collected for the shipment of reagents, necessary for diagnostic tests, and for the purchase of protective equipment.

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