A month after acknowledging that the shortage of medications in Cuba will continue for an indefinite period, the regime in Havana offered vaccines, drugs, and technological capacity to produce them to countries in Latin America.
The Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, made the offer to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and all the countries in the region while addressing the XI Pan American Conference for the Harmonization of Pharmaceutical Regulation (CPARF), which is taking place in Mexico.
The official media Cubadebate quoted the official expressing "Cuba's willingness to put at the service of the Pan American Health Organization and all the countries in the region its technical capacity and experience in the production of medications, biotechnological products, and vaccines, as well as the development achieved by the Center for State Control of Medicines, Equipment, and Medical Devices (CECMED)."
The Health official added that the self-sufficiency of medicine in the region must "go beyond the technical sphere and reach public policies that promote regional cooperation and support everyone's right to health."
Portal Miranda makes these statements one month after telling the members of the Health and Sports Commission of the Cuban Parliament that the shortage of medications in the pharmacy network across the country will continue.
"To say that this situation will be resolved in the coming days would be irresponsible," the minister pointed out in July, blaming this situation on a lack of funding and internal organizational problems.
The head of the department also attributed the crisis to the economic embargo, the rising cost of raw materials, and the high cost of freight, and admitted that the problems range from production and importation to the dispensing of drugs in community pharmacies and institutions.
"80% of the drugs dispensed in pharmacies are produced by the national industry"; however, for several months, Cuba has only been able to supply 30% of the basic medicine list, it was reported last July.
At the beginning of the year, the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel acknowledged that the shortage of medications and medical supplies on the island will continue, where pharmacies are out of stock and dozens of products from the basic list are missing.
This situation is evident in the desperate attempt of people to buy the few products that occasionally arrive at the pharmacies, even going so far as to sleep overnight to secure a good spot in the long lines.
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