Cuba
Bringing New Hope to Cuba
Disarm is committed to opposing the U.S. embargo against Cuba and alleviating the devastating effect of this policy on the health of the Cuban people. Disarm's Cuban Medical Project directly benefits fully 20% of the Cuban population.
Download a brochure on Disarm's Cuba programs.
The Cuban Medical Project
The Disarm Education Fund began its Cuban Medical Project in 1994 to combat the effects of the United States' Cuban embargo on the health of ordinary Cuban citizens. This project is now one of the world's most effective international aid programs.The U.S. embargo against Cuba continues to exact a devastating human toll on innocent families. In the last decade, the number of patients going without essential drugs, and doctors performing medical procedures without adequate equipment, has sharply risen.
In nine years, Disarm's Cuban Medical Project has provided more than $71 million worth of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies at a cost of $824,698. This means that every dollar Disarm spends is leveraged 86 times over in lifesaving aid. Our effective outreach and education strategies are bringing us closer than ever to ending the embargo and normalizing relations with Cuba.
Disarm's Medical Network
Disarm's Cuban Medical Project is now committed to supplying 60 Cuban hospitals and clinics – 20 in Havana and 40 in the countryside – with supplies ranging from such desperately needed basics as aspirin, insulin, gauze pads, and syringes, to the most advanced treatments for cancer and AIDS. Disarm's medical shipments now benefit more than 2 million Cuban citizens.Disarm's Medical Teams
Disarm brings medical teams of leading U.S. specialists and surgeons to Cuba where they perform advanced surgical procedures to treat ordinary Cubans. A 30-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 a pediatric team from International Volunteers in Urology performed 27 complex and successful operations before large audiences of urological surgeons from Cuba and other Caribbean countries.
Disarm Public Education
Disarm arranges visits by prominent Americans concerned about the human
costs of the embargo. Many of these visitors – including Muhammad
Ali and Ed Asner – have become compelling advocates for Disarm's work
in Cuba. Ali and his wife Lonnie helped Disarm deliver medical supplies
for our Children's Cancer Project.
Our aim is to supplement Cuba's supply of cancer medicine – so scarce that there is only enough to treat two out of every seven young cancer patients. In broader terms, these public education efforts target Washington's policy of denying medicine to civilians in order to punish their governments.
We urge the U.S. to abide by international law and treaties that condemn the use of medicine and food as a political weapon. Disarm also works on Capitol Hill to bolster the efforts of legislators committed to ending the embargo and normalizing relations with Cuba.
Disarm's Strategic Partnerships
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, 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.Learn more about our partners.
