Unfortunately, there's only a 1 in 200 chance... ...that parents and their children will be perfect histocompatible HLA matches.

Supplies of laboratory preparations and reagents, including those used for histocompatibility typing and renal transplantation, were refused. Procedures of this kind were thus not performed at all or were postponed.

The United States company One Lambda produces what Cuban doctors consider to be the most useful kit for HLA (histocompatibility lymphocyte antigen) typing, which is essential to determine the compatibility of a candidate for a kidney transplant with potential donors.

This programme was badly affected, and its activities were disrupted by: the unavailability of histocompatibility typing preparations; the failure of special drugs and solutions for organ preservation to be delivered on a fixed schedule; and the difficulty of maintaining cooperation with the leading centres in this field overseas because of the problems involved in travelling to the country.

Particular drugs and laboratory reagents with special refrigeration or storage requirements were delivered late because they were shipped by sea or sent by way of an airport in a neighbouring country and carried overland from there, and their efficacy was therefore reduced. Examples include erythropoietin, immunosuppressants such as ATG and OKT3, histocompatibility typing reagents and radiopharmaceuticals used in the diagnosis of renal disorders. Enormous sums were thus expended on the purchase of these essential items without there being any possibility of making optimum use of them, and this only increased the pressure on the State to purchase more.