US President Donald Trump associated the use of Tylenol during pregnancy with a sharp risk of autism.
Commenting on Monday (22) that the FDA will notify doctors to advise the, Trump mentioned rumors that Cuba has no cases of autism.
“I mean, there is a rumor – and I don’t know if it’s true or not – that in Cuba they don’t have Tylenol because they don’t have money for Tylenol. And they have virtually no autism, right?”
Despite the hypothesis raised by the US leader, autism yes there is in Cuba.
For years, the island’s state medical system has been operating clinics to treat Cubans with autism and has been conducted campaigns to raise awareness about it.
It even offers specialized autism therapies, such as swimming with dolphins, for foreigners seeking treatment and can pay in the much needed hard currency.
Cuban authorities have not yet responded to Trump’s comments. But for years Cuban doctors publicly detail their efforts to treat children on the island that suffer from autism.
“Each autistic person is unique, and their well-being depends on listening, understanding and walking by their side, knowing that inclusion is not measured by words, but by hugs that respect silence and celebrate the different ways of existing,” Osmara Delgado Sánchez told the state site Cubadebate on April 2, which is the day of awareness of autism.
Although Cuba has registered a much lower incidence of autism than many developed countries – 0.36 cases per 10,000 people – island health professionals recognize that this can be partly the result of the lack of resources to diagnose the condition more broadly.
According to WHO (World Health Organization) in 2021, about 1 in 127 people had autism.
But WHO warned that “the prevalence of autism in many low and medium -income countries is unknown.”
Despite increasingly scarce resources, the very affected Cuban health sector is prioritizing autism, authorities said.
In the same article of Cubadebate, Delgado stated that there are 300 Cuban health professionals specializing in autism working in seven centers across the island dedicated to the treatment of patients with autism.
Cuba, according to her, has been developing specific treatments for autism since 2018.
“We don’t talk about healing (Cuban patients with autism),” Delgado told the site. “But in maximizing skills … so no one is left behind.”
WHO counses association
The World Health Organization (WHO) and, on Tuesday (23), recent statements from Trump that suggest a relationship between the use of acetaminophen, the active ingredient of the drug Tylenolduring pregnancy and the risk of autism in children.
The WHO spokesman, Pull Jasareviche declared in a press conference that the evidence of an association between acetaminophen and autism “They remain inconsistent”.
“So this is something scientific, and these things should not be really questioned,” he added at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
