This is the main heart hospital in Cuba situated in the Vedado district of Havana. The group's chief contact is Dr. Jose Santos Gracia who has visited the UK on several occasions and whom the group met on a Study Tour of Cuba in 1999 and 2002.
The hospital is desperately short of essential medicines as many pharmaceutical companies have US interests which forbids them from supplying Cuba with any medical item from a paracetamol tablet to a pace-maker.
Although Cuba is capable of producing most of its own medicines the problem lies in the lack of raw materials and hard currency. There is also the difficulty obtaining state of the art equipment and spare parts for existing technology despite Cuba's advances in medical research and development.
Several members of the group have taken out standing orders (now avaliable online Click here) for a medical appeal set up to provide the Cariological Institute with certain medicines throughout the year. These are obtained and sent direct though DURBIN PLC which has acquired the trading activities of Echo Int.
As a result we keep the hospital in five vital medicines: Diltiazem, Clarithromycin, Propafenone, Sotalol, Ciprofloxacin and C Protein Reactive kits and controls for diagnostic purposes.
