The shortage of sanitary pads is one of the many recurring problems in Cuba and, in a recent report, the provincial newspaper of Ciego de Ávila, InvaderHe reported that, So far this year, this product has not been sold in the territory’s pharmacy network.a situation that is repeated in almost all Cuban provinces.
“What we are seeing (and living) is the world upside down: menstrual cycles fail to ‘adapt’ to the production cycles of the entities in charge of guaranteeing the pads. While the period arrives more or less accurately every 28-30 days , Mariposa brand intimates fly from one month to the next…and the next. A problem that is not exactly new“he stressed Invader.
The alternatives are, then, “either very expensive (imported products-resold national products), or very unpleasant (“It has been necessary, as in the 90s, to make pads from recycled fabric)”warned the state media.
The intimate ones, even those of the Mariposa brand, are on the street and in sales groups on social networks, both in Ciego de Ávila and in the rest of the territories, despite the fact that the pertinent government authorities ensure that production capacity is insufficient and, therefore, they cannot stably supply the pharmacy network. So, Invasor asks, where do these intimate things come from?
“They can be purchased, even with a home delivery service, for the ‘modest’ price of 250.00-300.00 pesos, depending on the urgency and need. They are in some garage sales, without shame. And there are also the imported ones, of origin Mexican, for example, and the Cuban ones from Industria Arthis SA, although have never been sold in establishments in national currency of Ciego de Ávilaas announced Granma four months ago”.
The Arthis SA plant, a mixed company of Cuban and Italian capital, is located in the Mariel Special Development Zone. According to the state media Cubadebate The plant’s production capacity is about 20,000 packages per day of its different assortments.not just pads, also disposable diapers and postpartum dressings.
The company assures that among its main destinations is marketing in Cuban pesos through the retail network, however, Invasor’s investigation shows that “all the offers consulted were on e-commerce pages with payments from abroad“. Resale in the informal market of their products ranges between 900 and 1,000 pesos for a package of 36 units.
The provincial media also questions that Arthis SA assures that “it takes timely steps to guarantee the arrival of raw materials to the Island in a timely manner”, and to date it has had no interruptions for this reason, while the state “Mathisa fails, time and again, to fulfill his social responsibility“.
The lack of materials paralyzed Mathisa’s production in Sancti Spíritus for several months last year. As justified by the Cuban Government, The US embargo limits the obtaining of superabsorbent tapes and other supplies, Therefore, they must be purchased from “different suppliers from very distant nations such as Spain, Finland, China and Mexico, which increases their cost.”
In August the plant delivered just 208,000 packages, less than 20% of the average monthly production of previous years. The director of this factory, Ángel Pozo, then declared to the local newspaper Escambray that it was “impossible” to reverse this delay and that, Between the three plants in the country, they aspired to manufacture three million packages between October and December. It has not been published whether they succeeded or what the annual production of pads was.
