Disarm’s Cuban Medical Project is now committed to supplying 60 Cuban hospitals and primary care clinics—20 in Havana and 40 in the countryside— with supplies ranging from such desperately needed basics as aspirin, insulin, gauze pads, syringes, and hospital beds, to the most advanced treatments for cancer and AIDS. Disarm’s medical shipments now benefit more than 2 million Cuban citizens.
Disarm began its Cuban Medical Project in 1994 to combat the effects of the United States embargo against Cuba on the health of ordinary Cuban citizens. This project is now one of the world’s most effective international aid programs.
In 15 years, Disarm’s Cuban Medical Project has shipped more than $80 million worth of medicines and medical supplies at a cost of $936,500. This means that every dollar Disarm spends is leveraged 85 times over in lifesaving aid.
For more than a dozen years, Disarm brought medical teams from leading U.S. medical institutions to Cuba where they performed advanced surgical procedures and trained their Cuban counterparts. A 32-person team from the University of California's Center for Arthritis and Joint Implant Surgery, for example, performed dozens of knee and hip replacements, while transferring new skills and equipment to their Cuban counterparts. And more recently, pediatric team from International Volunteers in Urology in Salt Lake City performed dozens of complex and successful operations before dozens of urological surgeons from Cuba and other Caribbean countries.
For the past two years the U.S. Treasury Department has prohibited any U.S. medical institutions from traveling to Cuba on these important humanitarian missions.
Much of the success of Disarm's Cuban Medical Project is due to strategic partnerships Disarm has cultivated over the years with such institutions and organizations as the Cuban Red Cross, Texas Childrens Hospital, International Volunteers in Urology, Direct Relief International, Stanford University Medical Center, and the University of Southern California Center for Arthritis and Joint Implant Surgery. These partnerships ensure that Disarm's efforts meet the real needs of the Cuban people and yield lasting results
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