○ US sanctions hold back Cuba's medical progress amid the global fight against COVID-19

○ Despite economic intervention from the US, Cuba works diligently with its neighbors and China in the field of biomedical research

Doctors and nurses of Cuba's Henry Reeve International Medical Brigade bid farewell before they travel to hard-hit Italy to help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, at the Central Unit of Medical Cooperation in Havana on March 21. Photo: AFP

 

Cuba has demonstrated its commitment to global solidarity during the novel coronavirus pneumonia (COVID-19) pandemic by rushing to aid hard-hit countries, despite facing difficulties in importing medical supplies due to US sanctions. 

Cubans contacted by the Global Times said the sanctions have affected their government's response to the pandemic and limited the work capacity of their health care workers in managing the crisis.

Cuba's plan works

Cuba had 139 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday.

Despite the hardship it endures from US sanctions, Cuba has sent medical units to countries including Italy, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Jamaica for the first time, to help with the fight against the COVID-19.

Worldwide, Cuban doctors are working in 59 countries, 37 of which have confirmed cases of COVID-19, one Cuban official told the New York-based Newsweek magazine. 

The island country also distributed anti-viral drug Interferon Alfa-2B, which has proven to be effective in treating COVID-19 in China. More than 45 nations have requested Cuba to send the drug to them, Cuba-based national media Granma reported. 

The Chinese National Health Commission has selected Interferon Alfa-2B, which was made in China through the Cuban-Chinese joint venture Changchun Heber Biological Technology established in 2003, as one of 30 medicines to fight the virus. 

Cuba sent 52 health professionals, some of whom had experience in combating Ebola in Africa, to Italy last week to help fight COVID-19 in the heavily-hit region of Lombardy. 

The moves stepped up after Cuba, as the only nation, approved a British cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 passengers, with almost 50 passengers and crew showing COVID-19 symptoms or diagnosed with the virus, to dock and helped evacuate passengers, media reported. 

British crew members responded to the humanitarian aid by displaying a banner that read, "I love you, Cuba."

"Internationally, Cuba has shown leadership and solidarity, especially reflected in the [British] cruise ship MS Braemar was allowed to dock in Cuba after other nations refused it," Harold Cárdenas Lema, editor of Joven Cuba, a Cuban online publication focusing on politics from a youth perspective, told the Global Times.

Photo: AFP

Trapped by sanctions

As Cuba contributes greatly to the outside world's fight against the virus, the US government continues to enforce economic, commercial and financial blockades against the country.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez repeated his call for global cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 on his Twitter account, "while the US opts for hostility and isolation," he posted on Sunday.

Rodriguez accused US' meddling in the fight against COVID-19, calling it an inhumane and disrespectful act to attack Cuban international cooperation based on fake pretexts and for political reasons, Radio Station of Cuba reported.

The condemnation followed remarks on Twitter made by the US State Department Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor who encouraged countries that received Cuban medical aid to reject it.

With one of the highest ratios of physicians per capita, and with medical competence built around disease prevention, Cuba needs access to an already tightened global chain of supply amid the demand for medical equipment and accessories. 

"The US embargo affects the nation's capability to use US dollars and to buy products that have 10 percent or more of their components manufactured by US companies or companies controlled by US shareholders," said Luis Carlos Battista, a Cuban lawyer and international relations expert. 

Although food and medicines are theoretically exempted, it is not uncommon that suppliers will not contract with Cuba to avoid any potential violation of US sanctions since the sanctions involve a complex web of laws and regulations with many grey areas. This leaves Cuba with a very reduced list of suppliers, he said in an online interview with the Global Times.

Even though there are structural inefficiencies in the Cuban economic system, the US embargo affects their capacity to purchase supplies in international markets, and also their capacity to develop products internally when the raw materials and intellectual property are also caught up in these international supply chains, he explained. 

The US blockade against Cuba has persisted for six decades. "Waiving US sanctions at this time is more necessary than ever, given that these sanctions affect ordinary Cuban people on a daily basis," Battista said.

Cuba, together with Venezuela, who is also under severe US sanctions, applauded the UN's recent call to ease international sanctions as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread. 

 "The effects of US sanctions in Cuba are easy to underestimate. Six decades of hostility and harassment have deeply affected the potential of the Cuban health care system, which is still highly prestigious," said Harold Cárdenas Lema.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet recently mentioned a number of countries including Cuba affected by the sanctions.

"At this crucial time, both for global public health reasons and to support the rights and lives of millions of people in these countries, sectoral sanctions should be eased or suspended. In the context of a global pandemic, impeding medical efforts in one country heightens the risk for all of us," Bachelet stressed.

The populations in these countries are in no way responsible for the policies being targeted by sanctions, and to varying degrees have already been living in a precarious situation for prolonged periods, Bachelet warned.

Cuba and Venezuela dispatched medical teams to aid battle against coronavirus in Italy's worse-affected Lombardy region. Photo: farodiroma.it

Medical diplomacy

With a population of more than 11 million, Cuba was the first country to eliminate mother-to-infant transmissions of HIV and syphilis, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced. 

Health services have become a shining calling card for Cuba, which has also made it a diplomatic tool to develop relations with other developing countries.

The US State Department said it would provide assistance to sanctioned countries struggling with COVID-19, but didn't mention Cuba in terms which countries would be included.

Challenges remain in its domestic sector and logistical support of controlling the epidemic, a local resident told the Global Times, adding that Cuba lacks adequate water infrastructure, which creates a unique challenge when requesting people to self-quarantine even though the Cuban population is prepared and trusts the government to deal with these kinds of humanitarian crises.

Citing the Cuban medical unit dispatched to Italy for assistance, Harold Cárdenas Lema said, "it is a challenge for the Cuban government, with a relatively new President and Prime Minister, but so far [the effort] is proving to be highly effective. Not a surprise as Cuba has an impressive record when it comes to managing crises."

High-quality medical service also brings Cuba economic bonuses as it stimulates local tourism that sees more "medical tours" conducted by visitors from Europe, Latin America and Canada.