HOW DO YOU ENSURE THAT MEDICINES GET TO WHERE THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO GO?

This is in some ways the most important area of concern with any transport to third-world countries. Over the years, we have developed contacts in all of the hospitals to which we deliver medicines - usually the director of the hospital, or an important administrator. Nothing really takes the place of personal knowledge. In all cases, the person authorized to receive medicine is both responsible and accountable. We send specific and detailed inventories with every shipment, and then check these inventories with the hospitals.

HOW IS THE MEDICINE ACTUALLY DISTRIBUTED?

We collect medicine from drug reps, pharmaceutical companies, doctors, clinics, hospitals, anywhere we can. So far we have been sending everything in one of two ways:
1) on a container;
2) accompanied by someone else we trust to hand deliver the needed materials.
If the material is sent to a small town, or to a small clinic within a city (Cuban health care is organized block by block with every clinic usually given a small geographical area - patients must see the doctors in their clinic, unless the clinic does not have any medicine, in which case the patients may go to a larger hospital), it is distributed first come, first served. If it is sent to a larger hospital, it may be repackaged with some supplies sent to other hospitals if the need is greater in the second hospital. All health care is free in Cuba. Doctors are prohibited from any private practice (salaries range up to $30 a month).

TO WHICH PARTS OF CUBA TO YOU DELIVER?

We try to concentrate on Oriente, but for practical reasons, we have to work in Havana also.

HOW MUCH MEDICINE DO THEY REALLY NEED IN CUBA?

Planeloads and planeloads every day. Cuban doctors have the skills to do open heart surgery, but they often lack the scalpels to cut you open and the sutures to tie you up. People die for the lack of basic, basic, medicine, despite the priority the health care is given

IS THERE ANYTHING NEEDED BESIDES MEDICINE AND SUPPLIES?

Computers are necessary and nonexistent. Some hospitals have one or two, and some have none. If every hospital had a computer it would be easier to locate medicine within the country as well as communicate a little more with the outside world.

I AM ALREADY PLANNING TO VISIT CUBA. WHAT IS THE BEST WAY OF DELIVERING MEDICINE PERSONALLY?

Visit the site www.sld.cu/cgi-bin/instClient/conf/dirsap.cfg for a complete list of Cuban Health care facilities. The site is in Spanish but you'll probably understand. Pack all the medicine you want to donate seperately and label it with the institution to which you want to donate. When you get off the plane, after passing through immigration, tell the people at customs that you have a package to be delivered to the institution you have chosen, to be delivered by ICAP. Wherever possible, you should pick in institution in the same Province in which you enter - otherwise you will be creating many layers of additional paperwork. Your package will be opened and inspected, and you will then sign a document giving the materials to ICAP. All of this will take some time - but the knowledge that you are bringing medicine that might otherwise be unavailable makes it very much worth it. Please contact us with any questions, or experiences that you have had!