Cuban Doctor Denounces US Blockade Impact on Pediatric Assistance

Matanzas, Cuba, Feb 2 (ACN) The vice-director of the provincial pediatric hospital in the western Cuban province of Matanzas Doctor Belkis Rodriguez blamed the US administration for imposing a policy on the island which blocks access to medical equipment and resources which are crucial to assist pediatric patients, particularly under the COVID-19 pandemic.

We have the knowledge and the will to offer our assistance but we are limited, if the blockade were not there, we would count on all necessary resources to better treat our patients, said the doctor. We have o deal with daily shortage of disposable items like syringes, gloves, pleural drainage equipment, along with low availability of antibiotics and other expensive drugs, whose purchase abroad has made difficult by the US siege.

The health personnel at the Eliseo Noel Caamano hospital in Matanzas push themselves very hard during the COVID-19 spike that affected the western province in 2021, the worst spread of the pandemic up to date. In the face of the large number of minors sick with disease, they had to allocate over 900 hospital beds.

At present we do not have a tomograph and in order to access such equipment we have to go to the provincial hospital, and even to health centers in the capital Havana; this limitation affect the assistance of patients, extend hospitalization and cause inconveniences to their relatives, the doctor noted.

Amidst the COVID-19 spread and under the hostile US policy, hospital specialists saved the life of three-year-old child who was considered the only Cuban pediatric case suffering from post-COVID-19 Multi-systemic Inflammatory Syndrome. They were also successful in saving a 17-year girl with a serious hemofagocytic syndrome derived from SARS-CoV-2 infection.