Every April 7th, World Health Day is commemorated, a time to analyze where the world is headed in this regard. It’s certainly valid to celebrate the astonishing advances in medicine because it is true how much progress has been made in treatments and highly complex surgeries. Technological development, coupled with artificial intelligence, facilitates more accurate diagnoses, for example, and incredible life-saving procedures are now being performed that once seemed impossible.

However, while we toast to each achievement, there’s a shadow that obscures all progress: millions of people worldwide die from treatable diseases, even from some illnesses that have been eradicated. This happens because, although health is a universal right, it’s not fulfilled for many populations who don't even have access to a nearby healthcare facility or specialist because healthcare has become an expensive business, and other factors such as the scarcity of vital resources hit hard, especially the lower classes.

Today is the most opportune day to discuss this issue because the paradox is cruel. The more science advances, the greater the contrast becomes; social differences become more pronounced regarding a vital issue like this, and, unfortunately, the least privileged sectors are those with the least wealth. The rest can always exhaust all the possibilities of science.

For many on the planet, a doctor's appointment, medication, or a hospital bed are unattainable. Public healthcare is often insufficient, plagued by shortages of supplies, and profit disguised as efficiency and pharmaceutical speculation condemn those with the fewest resources daily.

Sometimes it's not a lack of technology but a lack of will, a lack of compassion. And this absence of values, policies, and infrastructure is painful for every person who dies from pneumonia not treated in time, for those who die from poorly controlled diabetes or hypertension, for every outbreak of measles or diphtheria that resurfaces in areas where they were no longer even mentioned because they were thought to have been eradicated.

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This divergent behavior is global. There are high-quality facilities with state-of-the-art technology and trained, up-to-date professionals that serve a small number of people who can afford the high cost of their services, while millions cannot even receive an evaluation of their ailments, or others receive only partial care.

Amid this unequal landscape lies the case of Cuba, recognized as a historical powerhouse in the field of health. However, resources are increasingly limited and the system is deteriorating. We complain about the lack of basic medicines, about the limitations in obtaining treatments, and we ignore the reasons why. We think it's a personal matter when, in reality, health in Cuba is a priority, but currently it’s very difficult to maintain the pace of the past because conditions are more dire.

It's becoming increasingly complex. The United States' economic blockade has been in place for more than six decades, but now it’s much more explicit in its attempt to stifle the country. And the public health system suffers the consequences directly, and despite this, we have achieved feats that astonish the world: low infant mortality, high coverage rates... Medical training for experts who save lives in the most remote corners of the world.

What the United States government is doing is not just a political dispute that remains at the level of words. It’s a concrete barrier that prevents access to medicines, reagents, supplies, and technologies. Through sanctions and intimidation, the world's leading economic power ensures that we cannot purchase what we need to treat pain, perform tests, and save lives. And we are talking about items ranging from the basic to the complex: syringes, anesthesia, cancer drugs, hospital beds, ambulances...

Hostility, a sense of superiority, and persistence take their toll on our health. Sometimes it is even difficult to find dipyrone in your personal medicine cabinet because domestic production is very low due to insufficient raw materials and a struggling domestic market. Imagine if the need is for an antibiotic or another controlled substance. It’s extremely frustrating to buy a simple part to repair an electrocardiograph and ensure the continued operation of a hospital's ER. These are just a few examples that compromise the well-being of a country.

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Recently, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), called for protecting health “at all costs” and reiterated that it “should never be conditioned by external factors such as politics or energy.” This is very much in line with the times and with what’s happening in Cuba, because if it was already extremely difficult before, now it’s much more so with the collapse of the national power grid, resulting from fuel shortages caused by the same intentions, which directly affect all levels of this sector.

But how can the essentials for providing healthcare be guaranteed under such oppressive conditions? Hospitals, polyclinics, and other centers suffer all kinds of difficulties in keeping essential areas for seriously ill patients operational. Emergency rooms, intensive care units, operating rooms, delivery rooms, laboratories, among others, live with constant worry because there are matters that cannot be rescheduled or wait for medication, parts, or electricity to become available.

That’s why Cuban healthcare, adapted to resilience, has created strategies and initiatives to continue, especially with the essentials. It has required greater organization and ingenuity to provide healthcare, as well as responsibility and sacrifice in the face of the challenges it faces because every aspect is deeply moving, even the most basic requirements for cleaning and sterilization, for patient transport, and more.

Practicing medicine in Cuba is a challenge. It’s not only about having a vocation for healing and the conviction that health is a right, but also about knowing that the practice will be arduous. And we have never faced such a perilous situation.

This April 7th, let’s remember the date, but not without awareness. We call for reflection, for us to ask ourselves how much it costs Cuba to maintain an emergency room, the hemodialysis program, the maternity ward, oncology services, and other specialties. Let’s consider the causes and appreciate the effort made by the Ministry, institutions, and medical personnel to fulfill the public policy of not interrupting care.

Let’s remember that health is not celebrated with technology, but with justice so that it truly becomes a "right for all." No economic interest should take precedence over human life.