The American Hatuey Project today delivered a medical donation destined for the island’s health system at the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples, which includes cytostatic drugs and supplies for cancer treatment.

Gloria La Riva, the project’s coordinator, stated that this is the eighth shipment of medicines they have carried out and highlighted the determination to continue support «knowing that Cuba will never surrender and neither will we.»

She denounced that the restrictions of the blockade and Cuba’s inclusion on the «infamous and false list of state sponsors of terrorism» hinder the entry of vital supplies.

«State terrorism is over there in Washington,» said La Riva, who also condemned the recent US aggression against Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores.

The young activists Andira Alvez and Rachel Viqueira, who assisted in organising the donation, shared their commitment to solidarity with Cuba and highlighted the growing mobilisation of American groups that reject their government’s hostile policy against the island.

The donation includes over 3,250 vials of the antibiotic ceftriaxone, cytostatic drugs, fourth-generation antibiotics, prenatal vitamins, iron and over 7,000 microscope slides, destined for paediatric hospitals and oncology centres.

During the handover ceremony, Dr. Carlos Alberto Martínez, head of the cancer control section at the Ministry of Public Health, explained that Cuba historically achieved an 80 per cent survival rate in childhood cancer, comparable to developed countries.

«However, that indicator has been affected by limitations in access to first-line, cancer-specific drugs, fundamentally due to the economic, financial and commercial blockade imposed by the United States,» he stated.

The specialist detailed that the American siege forces the modification of established treatment protocols.

«Our professionals have had to adapt these protocols, but the result is never the same as when first-line drugs are used,» affirmed Martínez, who acknowledged the effort of medical personnel to maintain a survival rate above 60 per cent, as required by the World Health Organisation.

For his part, Dr. Andy Hernández, a specialist in oncology, thanked the donation which will benefit the entire national oncology network.

«You are helping hundreds of patients from all over Cuba,» he stated, emphasising that the supplies will be distributed among hospitals across the country.