Cuba, Unicef donates dexamethasone to children's hospital: to treat Covid positive patients
The Juan Manuel Márquez Children’s Hospital in the capital received this Wednesday a donation from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) consisting of tablets and vials of the drug dexamethasone to support the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic
Brandão Có, UNICEF representative in Cuba, stressed that this delivery, channelled through the UNICEF Supply Financing Service with financial support from the Government of Canada, will contribute to the care of SARS-Cov-2 positive patients and in particular children, adolescents and pregnant women.
He explained that the donation includes 1,200,050 tablets and 400,000 ampoules of the drug that will provide coverage to health centres in all provinces.
Since the first positive cases of COVID-19 in the nation, the international organisation has been working with the health authorities and reaffirmed its commitment to continue supporting the island’s efforts in addressing the multiple challenges imposed by the pandemic.
It also affirmed that UNICEF would continue to work for every child and adolescent, especially those in vulnerable situations.
On behalf of the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP), Dr Dania Madiedo Pérez, director of the children’s hospital, thanked for the act of solidarity
It comes at a time when the Cuban government is making great efforts to maintain the necessary resources in the face of the increase in positive cases.
He explained that the institution is a reference centre in several specialities, serving a population of 420,000 children from the municipalities of La Lisa, Playa and Marianao, in addition to those with complex conditions throughout the country.
In addition, the Juan Manuel Márquez assists children from one to 18 months and has a hospital care centre, located in the Hotel San Alejandro, for low-risk children with mild symptoms from 18 months to 10 years.
For her part, Déborah Rivas Saavedra, Deputy Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, thanked UNICEF and the Government of Canada for this altruistic and solidarity-based gesture that will benefit pregnant women and the neediest children, the nation’s most precious and future asset.
Dexamethasone is a drug used in respiratory, allergic, autoimmune, haematological, gastrointestinal, neurological, renal, dermatological and ocular diseases, among others. In turn, it supports the treatment of severe and critical patients with COVID-19.
Also present at the donation ceremony were Dr María Victoria Torres Hernández, a specialist from the Department of International Organisations of the MINSAP Ministry of International Relations, as well as officials from the ministry itself, UNICEF and members of the hospital’s board of directors.
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