The impact of this policy is reflected in the difficulties of the national industry to acquire necessary inputs in the production of drugs and other essential services, despite the fact that the country is capable of manufacturing more than 60 percent of its basic list of medicines, which is not achieved by the US fencing.
As stated in the report entitled “Need to end the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”, approved this Thursday at the UN by 185 nations, this is due to the country’s inability to pay and the impossibility to access medical technologies.
Such restrictions make it necessary to resort to alternative transportation routes with a high additional cost and a growing refusal of financial and banking institutions in various countries to process operations with Cuba, which prevents carrying out transactions with the suppliers of these items.
The document illustrates the above with the impossibility of materializing a purchase of insulin from the Danish company Novo Nordisk, given the refusal of Danske Bank to accept bank transfers from the International Financial Bank, as it is a Cuban entity sanctioned by the Control Office of Foreign Assets of the United States.
Also in the midst of the confrontation with Covid-19, the blockade hindered the arrival of syringes in the country for vaccination, as negotiations with a foreign supplier were interrupted, since the British bank HSBC informed the supplier that it could not carry out payment operations aimed at the island.
During the greatest pandemic peak in 2021, not a single sanctions relief measure was applied, which prevented the arrival of donations, the acquisition of gas cylinders, spare parts and other components necessary for the supply of medical oxygen.
In addition, it was impossible to purchase and transport essential materials for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of this disease, as well as for the research, production, and evaluation of vaccine candidates and Cuban vaccines against Covid-19.
As a consequence of the blockade, the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, producer of the Abdala immunogen, reported damages worth 190 million 671 thousand dollars.
Meanwhile, the Finlay Vaccine Institute, creator of Soberana 02 and Soberana Plus, found it difficult to acquire supplies, reagents and equipment of US origin.
Clinical studies of autoimmune diseases, such as psoriasis, multiple sclerosis and neurodegenerative diseases, have not been able to start because the necessary drugs are not available for Cuban patients.
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