Since 1970 to date, 4,950 kidney transplants have been performed in Cuba, 436 of which have been from living donors, the national press recently reported.

First kidney transplant from a living donor in Santiago de Cuba.
Photo: Eduardo Palomas.
The procedure with living donors is carried out in of the country’s provinces of Havana; Villa Clara; Holguín; and Santiago de Cuba, where the first operation in this province was performed August 8 at Dr. Juan Bruno Zayas Surgical Hospital, where Yusnay Vázquez Ruiz received a kidney transplant donated by her mother Olga Ruiz Sané.
33 year old Yusnay who, like her mother, lives in the municipality of Contramaestre, was suffering from advanced chronic kidney failure which required her to undergo hemodialysis sessions every other day; resulting in Olga’s decision to give Yusnay her life back, by donating one of her own kidneys.
The delicate procedure – which consists firstly of an operation
to extract the kidney from the donor, followed by a surgical procedure to evaluate the organ’s condition, and a final operation to transplant the kidney into the receiving patient – carried out in less than four hours without major complications.
Julio César Serra, transplants director for the south-eastern region told Granma that other similar transplants are currently being prepared in Santiago de Cuba.

Casa de Las Américas is outraged by the Israeli genocide on Gaza. We hold the illegal Zionist gang that calls it state responsible.  This could not happen without the full support of the Obama Administration, providing the funds and weapons used to kill and maim civilians indiscriminately, the majority women and children, as well as the continued destruction of schools/shelters, hospitals, power plants – and even mosques.

We demand that Israel end the massacre and siege on Gaza, and all forms of economic controls, and the use of humiliating checkpoints throughout the occupied territories

Casa de Las Américas unconditionally supports Gaza’s struggle for self-determination.

   The ExecutiveCommittee