Cuban authorities reported that more than 32,880 pregnant women on the island face “additional risks, threats, and limitations” due to the energy blockade imposed by the United States government, which has cut off Havana’s energy supply since the beginning of the year.
According to the Cuban Ministry of Public Health, the situation affects thousands of pregnant women and impacts maternal and child health, “with limitations that include difficulties in pregnant women’s access to obstetric ultrasounds for fetal well-being monitoring and genetic testing for the timely diagnosis of malformations,” reported the official newspaper Granma.
This crisis also affects vital services for newborns, minors, diabetics, cancer patients, and those requiring surgery or emergency care.
“The difficulties caused by the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed on Cuba by the United States government are not abstract,” denounced Cuban Health Minister José Angel Portal Miranda in a message on social media, while pointing to shortages of medicines, supplies, reagents, and spare parts, and insisting that the authorities are working diligently to “preserve what is essential.”
He announced “organizational measures” in the medical sector to address the crisis. “These are designed to preserve essential services and guarantee the continuity of basic healthcare for our population. The health of the people remains a priority for the State,” he affirmed.
