A urgent request for help is circulating on social media to obtain a medication needed for a 23-year-old pregnant woman, who is in critical condition at the Provincial Hospital of Camagüey due to suspicion of a thrombus.
A person who identifies on Facebook as Gipsy Azucar Miel shared a video on Tuesday in which she requested the spreading of the case of Naivin Álvarez Gallo, a resident of the municipality of Sibanicú and a university student.
"Followers, please, this is urgent. We need to share. We need to find this medication," he expressed at the beginning of the call.
According to the explanation, the young woman is pregnant and remains hospitalized in bed 4 of the provincial Intensive Care Unit, "reported as serious and suspected of having a thrombus."
"Please, share that this is an emergency, my God. This is of utmost urgency," insisted the person who spread the case, who also provided a contact method for the young woman's mother for those who can help.
The information shared on social media, however, shows a significant difference concerning the requested medication.
In the video, it is identified as fraxiparina, while later, in the comments of the post, it was indicated that the sought medication would be enoxaparina.
It's not just two names for the same drug. According to the technical data from the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS), Fraxiparina contains nadroparin calcium, a low molecular weight heparin with antithrombotic action.
The enoxaparin, for its part, also belongs to the group of low molecular weight heparins and its active ingredient is sodium enoxaparin. It is an antithrombotic medication used, among other indications, to prevent and treat the formation of blood clots.
The technical data sheet for Fraxiparina warns that nadroparin should not be used interchangeably with other low molecular weight heparins, due to differences between formulations and dosages.
Since the clarification about the medication appeared in a comment after the video was published, it seems that the drug being sought is sodium enoxaparin.
The request highlights an increasingly common reality in Cuba: family members and loved ones turn to Facebook, WhatsApp, and other digital platforms to locate medications that they cannot find in hospitals or pharmacies.
The situation became particularly dramatic in Camagüey in February, when a 26-year-old young woman died while her family tried to obtain a medication she needed.
Subsequently, the Manuel Ascunce Domenech Provincial Hospital publicly acknowledged that it did not have norepinephrine, the first-line drug needed for the septic shock it was experiencing.
The magnitude of the shortages was acknowledged in August by Miguel Díaz-Canel himself: only about 30% of the essential medicines were available in Cuba, which means that seven out of ten essential drugs were missing.
The leader also acknowledged issues in ensuring care and education for tens of thousands of pregnant women, children, and other vulnerable patients.
Filed under: