In a candid and emotionally charged exchange, young medical science residents from the Cuban capital shared on Monday how the United States' economic, commercial, and financial blockade is having a devastating impact on their daily practice, their professional development, and the lives of their patients.

The gathering was attended by Meyvis Estévez Echeverría, first secretary of the National Committee of the Union of Young Communists (UJC), and Tania Margarita Cruz Hernández, first deputy minister of Public Health. Held in a spirit of reflection and protest, the event took place within the framework of the April 4th celebrations.

Alejandro Pérez Fonteboa, from the National Oncology Institute (INOR), explained that fuel shortages — worsened by the tightening of the blockade — are causing failures in generator sets, putting high-technology equipment such as radiotherapy and imaging systems at serious risk. He warned that breakdowns of such equipment require multimillion-dollar investments, and denounced the impossibility of accessing first-generation drugs such as monoclonal antibodies and immunotherapy treatments, which are vital for extending survival in oncological diseases.

Dr. Marileidys Collado Martínez, an endocrinology resident, addressed the inability to procure technologies such as continuous insulin infusion pumps and glucose sensors for patients with type 1 diabetes, which prevents the management of long-term complications, particularly in children. She also raised the alarm over the shortage of growth hormones since November 2021 and a deficit of antithyroid medications that has triggered thyrotoxic crises reported in pregnant women and children across multiple provinces.

María Claudia Torres, a cardiology resident, detailed the impact of the blockade on her specialty, pointing to a shortage of pacemakers — which prolongs hospital stays for patients with malignant arrhythmias — and a lack of stents, which forces physicians to resort to more invasive open-chest surgeries or extended hospitalizations. She also cited the obsolescence of and lack of replacement parts for computed tomography equipment, which is indispensable for cardiovascular diagnostics.

Ricardo Rodríguez González, secretary of the UJC Medical Sciences Committee, moderated the dialogue and underscored how the blockade has become increasingly visible and deeply felt, even affecting the education of young physicians — for instance, by restricting access to international scientific databases essential for their specialization theses.

The young doctors agreed that, despite the enormous difficulties, health care personnel remain committed and compassionate in their care for patients.

They emphasized, however, that the blockade constitutes a silent genocide that costs Cuba billions of dollars each year — resources that could save lives and sustain treatments for years to come.

"A single day without the blockade would guarantee five years of treatment for more than 194,000 people with diabetes mellitus," Rodríguez González noted, citing figures from Cuba's official complaints before the United Nations.

"The blockade is not a cliché — it is a reality that kills and limits our dreams of becoming better doctors," he concluded.

The exchange closed with a call to maintain hope and unity, and to continue denouncing, in every national and international forum available, the criminal impact of a policy that violates the human rights of the Cuban people.