The Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery Center of the city of Santiago de Cuba provides care to a population of more than four million people while trying to maintain the excellence of its services despite the difficulties imposed on the national health care system by the U.S. blockade.
With 37 years of work to its credit as leader of the field in the eastern provinces, the Center takes care of adults with various congenital and acquired heart diseases, but the systematic provision of these services has suffered the impact of the said genocidal U.S. Cuba policy, which also tampers with the surgical branch, lacking in indispensable equipment such as oxygenators, prosthetic and vascular valves, and ventilation and extracorporeal circulation machines are indispensable in surgery, and extending their useful life is a challenge due to the obstacles imposed for their periodic renewal.
Justo Moisés Peña, a member of the management team, pointed out that the