HAVANA, Mar 20 (Reuters) – When do the medicines arrive? Is the question asked by the majority of the elderly people who haunt pharmacies in Cuba every week, the country with the oldest population in Latin America.
Archive image of members of the Cuban health service walking in the port of Mariel, on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba. March 18, 2020. Ramon Espinosa / Pool via REUTERS
About 20 percent of the population in Cuba is 60 or older, according to the World Bank, and despite free government-run health programs, the elderly frequently consult about the supply of enalapril, a pill for high blood pressure, timolol or Dorzolamide, two eye drops for those who suffer from vision, among others.
Medications arrive approximately every two weeks at neighborhood pharmacies and the distance from their homes complicates the daily lives of the elderly, who must face long lines to treat their ailments.
“We all have to take care of ourselves, as much as we can with a nasobuco (mask), it must be used because we really have to maintain balance in our health system, apart from there are no medications and we are in a line from 5 in the morning,” said Georgina González, a 70-year-old retiree sitting on the sidewalk waiting for the pharmacy to open.
“If we get any of that (coronavirus) it is not easy,” he said with a worried face.
Cuba has faced in recent years a great shortage of all kinds from raw materials to make medicines, including food and hygiene products, among others. The situation has been accentuated week after week since aid from its ally Venezuela decreased and due to the tightening of sanctions applied to the island by the United States government.
“I suffer from gout, hypertension because of age, but I keep my job there until I can, out of necessity, and that’s how my life is,” said Ángel Pupo, an 80-year-old car and motorcycle keeper. Pupo is retired and receives a low pension from when he worked in state businesses.
“We are waiting for all this to happen because the solution to the coronavirus is in the very short term,” said Pupo, addressing a car that was parked on the avenue.
Dr. Alberto Fernández, head of the Department of the Elderly of the Cuban Ministry of Public Health, said this week that the country has around 2 million elderly people who are at increased risk of respiratory ailments since their immune capacity tends to decrease. .
“I am very worried, because I have asthma and if it increases, I would not know what to do,” said María Torres, 75, who was waiting with dozens of people outside a pharmacy in Central Havana. “I have to take care of myself because we are blocked (by the United States) and there are not enough medications,” he added.
Reuters TV and Nelson Acosta report
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