At 67 years old, Olga Agüero assumes the rigor of taking care of her mother Catalina alone, an elderly woman who is over nine decades old. The task in itself is hard for the sixty-year-old woman, who also must not lack the "ailments" of that age. It is more complex given the delicate health condition of her mother. And that is why she thanks those who work at El Cuartelón pharmacy that brings the service to the door of their house.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- “For three years, she says, my mother fell ill with dementia. They deliver the medications to me according to availability and then replace the missing ones. She needs many pills because she suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes, heart, gallstones. She has suffered brain ischemia and was operated from tumors of the colon and marrow.

“I have felt tremendous relief and I have a lot to thank not only the pharmacy staff, but also the doctor and the nurse who make the prescriptions and bring them to me here. Cuba has a unique system in the world and I am glad that the elderly receive priority attention, especially now, with the coronavirus pandemic,” says Agüero.

Not far from there, Bernardo Morales, 67-year-old, still benefits from the service. Medicines to treat Parkinson's disease are brought to his home on Lieutenant Peisso Street. His direct caregiver and wife for more than 40 years, Silvia Silva Flores expresses deep gratitude for the help of pharmacists, even before receiving the message.

The son, Yeide Morales, who works for the National Institute of Recreation and Sport in Las Tunas, assures that the provision is effective and, above all, very humane with those who are not in a position to queue.

"In addition, we have the security of the pills that is why I advise people from Las Tunas with similar situations to go to their health area and to social workers. From our Revolution, we can always expect this type of attention that improves the quality of life of many people."

TIMELY INITIATIVES

Luckily for a few elderlies, the courier service provided by some pharmacies will be extended, by the hand of health brigade members, to the rest of the units. The municipal director of the pharmacy network, Isabel Arias Pérez, explains to 26 Digital that, in view of the epidemiological panorama with the new coronavirus, they adopt strategies with the aim of avoiding crowds and exposing the elderlies to danger.

“We have always had a courier in charge of taking the medications to the sick, disabled and those without families. In the case of "El Cuartelón," the administrator, on her own initiative, pre-delivery patients with chronic non-communicable diseases and sends the product with the same licensees from the center.

Now, in the midst of the situation in the country, and together with the Federation of Cuban Women, several members of the organization are being trained to carry out the task. They were given a badge that will identify them when they reach the homes of the elderly. We are also training teachers who will voluntarily join in this humane work.

Arias Pérez comments that the brigades will have a representative who, together with the administrators of each unit and the graduates, would pre-delivery the controlled medicines. The rest of the members would be in charge of delivering them house to house.

For the identification of the patients, they help professionals from medical offices that know the conditions of their population and older adults without company in the homes.

PHARMACY INSIDE

María del Carmen Ochoa Rojas, Provincial Director of Pharmacies and Optics of Las Tunas, highlights the fulfillment of the plans for the production of sodium hypochlorite and 10 of the lines of Natural and Traditional Medicine for acute respiratory infections. Likewise, she exposes the actions within each center to prevent SARS-CoV-2.

“We insist on maintaining a meter of distance between each user, the use of the mask and the washing of the hands. When we have two saleswomen, only two people enter the establishment, and thus we perform the work better and without concentrations.

"When the medicine arrives, we try to reinforce the sales area with workers from the company's management and technical personnel who are not direct to the population, in order to speed up the activity."

Sodium hypochlorite today increases its demand; only in the main municipality they sell 22 thousand bottles every two days.

Since 2011, they sell it in the pharmacy network and it is prepared in four points: the local production center, the units of the Pediatric and Guevara hospitals, and in the main municipal pharmacy.

"We recognize the willingness and effort of our pharmacists that has allowed us to considerably increase production," says Arias Pérez. Every time we call them, regardless of the time or the day of the week, they step forward because they are aware of the significance of that substance to prevent Covid-19."

Annia Guevara Pavón knows this well, as she has changed her usual job as a cashier at the main municipal pharmacy to be directly involved in that process, because now they need it most. “Every day we prepare from one thousand to one thousand 100 jars; to one percent for consumption, and we were assuming the elaboration to five percent, used in the cleaning of hands and surfaces."

In the area, the technician Deisy Pérez Galván also remains with more than three decades of experience in her work. He comments that they perform the calculations depending on the concentration of the product to reduce it to the established percent. "We are taking extreme hygiene measures to avoid any contamination."

In the opinion of the administrator Maida Velázquez, the 22 workers who are active there today show a very committed attitude. And it is fair to highlight those who remain at the forefront of the battle against the Covid-19, exposed to the risk, so that the available medicines reach the hands of the people of Las Tunas.