Research and assistance at cytogenetic laboratories nationwide are hindered because Cuba cannot purchase the equipment and reagents necessary for the Prevention and Detection of Chromosomal Diseases.

There are problems to purchase the complete AmnioMAX medium, a drug used for perinatal cells, which guarantees that chromosomal studies can be made on pregnant women aged 37 and older or those with alterations detected in an ultrasound. The price of the reagents tripled for Cuba due to the need to purchase them through third countries.

A similar complication occurred to acquire the complete Demecolcine medium, a drug used for prenatal and postnatal human cells.

It guarantees that chromosomal diagnosis can provide to pregnant women and patients with suspected genetic clinical syndromes, according to Cuba’s resolution “Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial and Financial Blockade Imposed by the United States of America against Cuba,” which was voted at the United Nations General Assembly recently, where it received 185 votes in favor, two against and two abstentions on Thursday.

Public health care continues to be one of the sectors hardest hit by the US blockade, which caused losses to Cuba estimated at 113.4 million dollars in the first seven months of 2021 alone.

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