US Blockade: Keep US Medicines Out of the Reach of Cuban Children
News from Cuba | Friday, 17 October 2014
Cuban children are among the innocent victims of the over-50-year economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba, whose human damage is not possible to assess, said a Cuban diplomat at the United Nations.
Speaking at the Third Commission of the UN General Assembly diplomat Jairo Rodriguez said that health services for children receive a strong impact by the anti-Cuba US policy as many medications, including anti-viral drugs are not available for Cuban children.
US companies producing these medications do not respond to Cuba's requests or allege that they cannot do business with the island's companies, the diplomat said.
Addressing a session on the promotion and protection of the child, the Cuban diplomat recalled that denying children their right to life is the worst form of violence against them.
He also pointed out that in pre-revolutionary Cuba the infant mortality rate claimed to 60 in every live birth, and such indicator has been brought down to only 4.2 by the Revolution, which compares to the indicators in developed nations.
All Cuban children are vaccinated at birth against 13 transmissible diseases, while early detection of congenital conditions is prioritized, Rodriguez noted and also referred to the enjoyment by children of social rights such as free education and other aspects that guarantee their living despite the impact of the US blockade.
On October 28, the UN General Assembly will again vote a Cuban resolution on the need to lift the US blockade of the island. Similar resolutions have been overwhelmingly adopted by UN member nations since 1992. Last year 188 out of all 193 UN member states voted in favor of the Cuban resolution.