U.S. blockade hinders Cuban transplant program

HOLGUÍN, Cuba, Feb 9 (ACN) The kidney transplant program is one of the worst hit within the health sector in the province of Holguin by the tightening of the U.S. blockade of Cuba, imposed since 1962.

Dr. Hansel Caballero Castellanos, head of the Emergency and Transplant Department in the province, said that the said U.S. policy forces Cuba to buy in third countries, and therefore at a higher price, specific drugs and sutures required for these procedures and for the future treatment of transplant patients.

Ever since the transplant program was implemented in the province of Holguín in 1996, more than 700 surgical operations have been performed, including cornea and bone marrow transplants.

The 60-plus years old U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade has caused Cuba billions of dollars in losses and restricts the purchase of consumables in all social sectors, including health care, education, transportation and services.