"Children Are Dying"... Cuba's Healthcare System on the Brink Amid U.S. Blockade and Power Crisis

Cuba Runs Out of Basic Supplies Like Syringes and Anesthetics
Infant Mortality Rate Doubles... "A Devastating Situation"
Nationwide Blackout Raises Fears of an Unprecedented Medical Crisis

Cuba's much-vaunted "universal free healthcare" system is rapidly collapsing. Since the extradition of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, the United States has tightened its blockade, resulting in severe shortages of medicines, medical equipment parts, and electricity.

A pediatric patient at the National Oncology, Radiobiology, and Radiological Research Institute in Havana, the capital of Cuba. Photo by AP Yonhap News

According to a report by Yonhap News on the 6th (local time), citing AP News, the reality of Cuba's healthcare system is grim. Irisleydis Trista, a 34-year-old resident of Batabano, south of Havana, has been battling a recurring tumor for four years, enduring two surgeries and dozens of radiation treatments. However, she has not been able to get a CT scan for seven months. She needs to monitor her progress with a CT scan every three to six months, but the CT machine at Havana's "Hermanos Ameijeiras" hospital, Cuba’s top medical institution, has broken down.

Medical staff have informed her that a reoperation is difficult due to power shortages, frequent equipment failures, and a lack of resources. Trista said, "There is absolutely no way to know right now whether the cancer has grown or not," adding, "I feel like my life is in danger every day."

This is the reality faced by hospitals across Cuba. According to AP News, hospitals cannot even acquire basic consumables such as syringes, gauze, vaccines, and anesthetics. Essential equipment such as dialysis machines and CT scanners are left broken because there are no replacement parts, and critically ill patients are unable to receive timely treatment.

According to an official Cuban government report released last month, the survival rate for children with pediatric cancer, which was as high as 85% before the U.S. energy blockade intensified in January this year, has dropped to 65% in just half a year. Other indicators from the Cuban government paint a similarly grim picture. The infant mortality rate, previously 4–5 per 1,000, has doubled to 9.3, and the number of patients waiting for surgery has surpassed 100,000—of whom more than 10,000 are children.

Yoraini Romero, a specialist in charge of the pediatric ward at the National Institute of Oncology, Radiobiology in Havana, said, "In reality, children are dying. Two have already died this year alone," describing the situation as truly devastating. The situation for pediatric patients coming from rural areas is even more precarious. Romero explained, "Many cannot find transportation due to a lack of fuel, so they arrive at the hospital only after missing their appointments by a week or even as long as two weeks."

On the 6th (local time), a blackout occurred in Havana, Cuba, as people were walking on the streets. Photo by AP Yonhap News

The situation is deteriorating even further. On this day, the Cuban Electric Company announced that the power grid had been paralyzed, causing a nationwide blackout. This is the third nationwide blackout this year, leaving about 10 million people in darkness. It is the first nationwide "mega-blackout" in about four months since March. Hospitals, which have been relying on emergency generators amid frequent blackouts, now face the prospect of an unprecedented medical crisis due to this outage. Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel criticized the United States on X (formerly Twitter), saying, "They are attempting to induce social upheaval through suffocation."

Mario Cruz Peñate, World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Cuba, described the current situation as "truly shocking," noting that a lack of fuel is causing severe disruption to Cuba’s health and medical services. He emphasized that "the impact is fatal not only on the act of providing medical care itself but throughout the entire process of patient treatment." Volker Türk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, strongly criticized the United States in a statement last month, saying, "Children are dying. This is unacceptable."

The United States is refuting claims that its blockade is to blame. Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously stated, "The current blackouts have nothing to do with the United States," noting that Cuba has suffered from power outages for years. He argued, "The real reason you have no electricity, no fuel, and no food is because those who control this country have siphoned off billions of dollars and have not used it for the people."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.