Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez has reiterated the Cuban government’s denunciation of the effects of the United States blockade on the island’s public health, particularly for nephrotic patients.
According to the foreign minister, “the U.S. blockade causes the suffering of Cuban patients who need nephrology services,” he noted on the social media platform X.
In this regard, he gave an example: “The US firm Baxter Healthcare, the leading seller of dialysis machines to Latin America, refuses to sell equipment to Cuba.
He also noted that “other similar firms, such as the US company Drake Whilock, have expressly cited the blockade as a repeated reason for not marketing their products to our country.”
The minister noted that “refurbished dialysis machines are easily obtained in the United States, but inaccessible to Cuba. The prices of this equipment represent between a third and a quarter of the price of new equipment.”
Cuban importers, who had to go to Europe to purchase them, could have obtained 54 refurbished machines in the US for the price of the 18 new ones purchased, which would have guaranteed care for another 180 patients, Rodríguez asserted.
According to estimates by the Cuban Foreign Ministry, six days of implementation of this restrictive US policy against Cuba is equivalent to the financing required to import the disposable medical supplies and reagents necessary for the national health system for a year, which is approximately $129 million.
The U.S. blockade caused material damages to Cuba estimated at $7,556.1 million from March 1, 2024, to February 28, 2025, the Cuban Foreign Minister recently noted.
[ SOURCE: AGENCIA CUBANA DE NOTICIAS ]
