Free, universal and quality medical care for all the people has been one of the main conquests and priorities of the Cuban Revolution. In spite of this, the economic, commercial and financial blockade is increasingly affecting the health sector, seriously threatening the quality of life and well-being of the Cuban people.
All in all, the effects caused on the health sector during the period from March 2023 to February 2024 amounted to no less than USD 268,515,210, a figure that exceeds by USD 28,700,000 the one reported in the previous Report. These numbers not only indicate shortages of medicines or indispensable medical devices, but also constitute a flagrant and systematic violation of the human rights of the Cuban people, including the right to life.
The United Nations Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur of the Negative Impact of Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights, Ms. Alena Douhan, acknowledged the harmful effects of these measures on the right to health in Cuba, including mental health. She also pointed out the special conditions under which the country had to face the COVID-19 pandemic.
The policy of hostility and extreme cruelty was brutally demonstrated when the main medical oxygen production plant broke down at the time when there was a pick number of COVID-19 cases in Cuba. The attempts made by two U.S. companies to supply medical oxygen to Cuba failed, for they required a specific license from the U.S. government to do so, even in times of the pandemic. The maneuvers by US government agencies to prevent foreign companies from two Latin American nations from selling medical oxygen to our country were also known.
The cancellation of contracts; the refusal by shipping companies to transport any cargo to Cuba; the impossibility of using technologies with more than 10 per cent of US components and the increase in marketing costs have negatively impacted the purchase of the inputs necessary to ensure the sustainability of the health system. At the same time, the deliberate attack on the sources of income of the Cuban economy has prevented the country from having the necessary funds to make these purchases in other markets.
The increasing difficulties faced in this sector not only affect basic health care for the population; they also generate tensions among the health staff, medical institutions and the affected families and patients, as they impact services that have always been at the core of the profoundly humanist vocation of the Cuban Revolution.
In addition to all these negative effects, the US has unleashed a relentless persecution against Cuba’s international medical cooperation, based on the ill-tended fallacy that Cuba promotes human trafficking. The US intends to discredit this laudable work and prevent the inflow of legitimate incomes from the cooperation that is offered as “compensated technical assistance”, based on modalities that have received the support of the United Nations (UN).
It is undeniable that health care remains one of the sectors most severely affected by the criminal and genocidal economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba.
On October 29 and 30, the General Assembly will consider and vote on the draft resolution “Necessity of ending the economic, commercial and financial embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba”. Once again, the international community will raise its voice and will overwhelmingly and forcefully condemn this unjust, illegal and cruel policy.
Permanent Mission of Cuba to the United Nations.