CAMAGÜEY.- Within two days, Cuba will present to the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) the report on the need to end the North American blockade. As every year, its lines will address the effects of this policy on the different spheres of society, including Health and the smallest.

“No one imagines what a doctor feels when telling a family that their child's recovery will take longer than expected because we had to apply alternative procedures, as the country was not allowed to buy the appropriate medicine. It pains us that the solution can be obtained in 72 hours and achieved in several weeks. Of course, a minor has never died due to lack of resources, ”says Dr. José Manuel Montejo Montejo, head of the Neurosurgery service at the Eduardo Agramonte Piña pediatric hospital.

If there is a Ministry limited by the economic blockade of the United States, it is that of Public Health. Only between the months of April to December 2020 the losses in the sector are calculated on the 198 million dollars. The distance from the markets, the increase in import prices and the obstacles to the purchase of medicines and the acquisition of new technologies, add to the list of affectations.

However, none of them prevented, for example, the attention of the ten-year-old David Ayon Méndez, a resident of Ciego de Ávila, who was admitted for an intracranial tumor in the pineal region and had already undergone the first of two operations. “Here they have cared for us with love and explained the steps to follow. It is a difficult situation for us as parents, however having these professionals by our side gives us a lot of confidence ”, said his mother, Belkys Méndez.

And it is that for Dr. Montejo there are no justifications when it comes to saving lives. “The idea of ​​letting a child die because a bypass catheter for hydrocephalus is missing or we don't have Mannitol, a drug used for brain inflammation, has never crossed our minds. We have an information system created by the Ministry that allows us to know the situation of the other territories and, taking into account the inventories of each one, to help us ”.

This was the case a few weeks ago when, from the Neurosurgery ward of the Camagüey's pediatrician, one of the three bypass catheters in existence was brought to Sancti Spíritus to adequately care for a minor in need. These "small" gestures are what make the health system in Cuba solid.

Dr. Oscar Pérez Morales, head of the hospital's nephrology service, also has an opinion on the subject. “It is no secret to anyone that the blockade really affects and more now coupled with the economic crisis caused by COVID-19. Ours is a specialty that demands high technology, particularly in dialysis methods, since resources of great value are needed in the international market and they have to be imported from far away places ”.

According to the data provided by the doctor, the hemodialysis performed on children three times a week cost around $ 300, not only for the equipment but also for the disposable material.

“Searching for alternatives - adds Oscar - has become the daily life of Health personnel. Overcoming prices and limitations, the Cuban government does everything to find what is necessary and ensure that each child, wherever he is, is always cared for as he deserves ”.