As U.S. blockade bites, Cuba’s health care and science suffer (www.science.org)
from pete_link@lemmy.ml to world@lemmy.world on 21 Apr 23:27
https://lemmy.ml/post/46249947

Hospitals and researchers struggle to cope with lengthy blackouts and supply shortages

30 Mar 2026

Cuban scientists are known for ingenuity in the face of adversity. Over the years, as U.S. sanctions coupled with government mismanagement worsened the island’s economic woes, Kalet León Monzón and his colleagues at the Center of Molecular Immunology (CIM) in Havana continued to develop and produce monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins, resorting to clever workarounds such as retrofitting old instrumentation and what he calls “nontraditional ways” of importing reagents.

But months into a de facto oil blockade imposed by the United States, CIM’s R&D director is at his wits’ end. Crippling power outages and a collapsed transportation system have forced León Monzón to put eight of CIM’s 10 current clinical trials on hold. “We’ve had no choice but to prioritize,” he says.

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