Taking medicine to Cuba

[Mitski]

Hello all,

quite soon me and my gf will go to Cuba, we gathered a bunch of medicine (all sorts of stuff) from some doctors we know. Would it be a problem to take them with us when we leave? It's not that much but still a couple of shoeboxes full... We would take them inside our backpacks.
If someone would know a doctor near Havana (or somewhere else, but not to far cause we would have to carry them all around the island..) or a contact in a hospital, that would be helpful, because we really want the medicines to go into the right hands.

Greetingz,

Mitski & Kat

[greslogo]

Keep them in their original packaging.

You're allowed to bring in up top 10kg's of medecine without any paperwork.

At worst, if checked (unlikely), you might be asked where they are going. It would be a good idea to have a name of a hospital, even if that is not where they are destined.

I've brought in 50qt coolers, on many occassions, jam packed with meds in the past. Only been "checked" once.

The director of the hospital I used to drop things off at is no longer at the same hospital, so can't help you with a contact, at the moment.

When are you leaving ? Where, in Cuba, will you be ?

[Mitski]

Good news that is, we won't have ten kg I think, so we should'nt have any problem.
We will be leaving september 7th and arrive the eight at Varadero Airport, from there probably to Havana, possibly from Havana to Santiago de Cuba by plane and then back to Varadero by bus or train or whatever may come up...

[Rick]

I've posted link this awhile ago and it may be of some use to you:
"Not Just Tourists" is a non-profit Canadian organization dedicated to bringing medicines and medical supplies to the remote regions of Cuba. They have been in operation for 5 years and are always looking for volunteers to take their donated medical supplies to Cuba. I thought it might be something that some fellow Canadians might want to consider:
http://notjusttourists.mine.nu/index.php

Kudos to you for thinking of doing this, Mitski and Kat! You have a heart of gold, I'm sure! [smiley=angel.gif]