The Pediatric Teaching Hospital “Juan Manuel Márquez” in Havana has recently issued a statement regarding the case of the child Geobel Damir Ortiz Ramírez, and clarified that on Wednesday, February 12, they provided the child's mother with the medical document she had requested in order to seek treatment abroad.
“The National Health System, as in other instances, has never had any issue with the fact that, based on the family’s request, the patient can be treated in a medical institution in another country,” they pointed out, and indicated that "publications that have been shared in recent days on social media attempt to manipulate the reality of the care that the child has received."
The hospital center specified that, “as she had requested in previous days,” they provided her with “an update of the medical history summary, which contains all the information that validates the child's illness and the treatment received in Cuban healthcare facilities.”
The hospital seemed to yield -at least on the surface- to the increasing social pressure after the mother reported that, due to the lack of documentation she had requested from the hospital, the U.S. Embassy in Havana had denied Geobel's visa the previous week.
The pediatric hospital in Havana detailed in its report the care that the 10-year-old boy, originally from Bayamo in the Granma province but currently residing in the Havana municipality of San Miguel del Padrón, has received.
They say that since his admission, the little one has been cared for by a multidisciplinary team of professionals who have utilized all the resources available in the National Health System.
"It has included the study with high-tech diagnostic tools available in the country, which have confirmed his condition and have allowed the appropriate treatment to be applied, including the use of Selumetinib (Koselugo), a medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States, for pediatric patients, which is capable of reducing the size of plexiform neurofibromas in patients with NF1 and improving quality of life by alleviating symptoms such as pain and motor dysfunction," they added.
“We can understand a mother's pain in the face of the helplessness of knowing the severity of her child's illness, and we can also assure that, beyond the technical means available to care for the child, our health professionals have spared no effort in their follow-up and have given all the sensitivity and priority that his case entails,” they concluded.
In recent hours, the minor's mother clarified on social media that what they received is, indeed, a "summary of clinical history" and not the letter requested by the U.S. Embassy, which demands that the Ministry of Public Health acknowledge that there are no longer resources in the country to address the minor's illness.
The activist Diasniurka Salcedo Verdecia stated that what was submitted does not correspond to what the U.S. Embassy is requesting.
To begin with, he indicated that the document could not exceed two pages and must include conclusions stating that they do not have the conditions to care for the child. However, what they submitted were 11 pages of medical history summary, concluding that "they authorize him to travel."
Salcedo Verdecia emphasized that it is not a "whim," but the requirements of the Embassy. He insists that he does not understand why they have not done it correctly this time, as they have done it properly for other minors who have applied for humanitarian visas.
Meanwhile, the child's clinical condition is deteriorating.
The fundraising campaign on GoFundMe to support Damir has already raised $26,185.
"I need to leave this country."
Damir himself asked for help in recent days.
"I need you to share this video because I need to improve my situation; I need eye surgery and treatment for my legs. I need you to share it, to believe in me, so that I can leave this country and be treated at another hospital that has accepted me," the young boy pleaded in a video shared on Facebook by his mother, Eliannis Ramírez.
The MINSAP initially refused to issue the required document, stating that Cuba has the necessary resources to treat the child.
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