“A hospital that does not guarantee the basics for the diagnosis and follow-up of dengue is seriously failing its population,” writes a doctor from Cárdenas
14ymedio, Havana, October 5, 2025 — Viral infections caused by the Aedes aegypti mosquito continue to spread in Cuba. In Ciego de Ávila, oropouche is the one that caused the authorities to issue a health alert last Friday. “During the last few weeks there has been a remarkable increase in febrile cases,” the official press reported.
Doctor José Luis López González, Deputy Director of Epidemiology of the Provincial Center for Hygiene, Epidemiology and Microbiology, reported the circulation of oropouche in all municipalities, except in Primero de Enero.
In view of the increase in cases, the authorities assure that antivectorial actions have been “reinforced,” but they again make the population responsible for cleaning patios and waste management, without giving details on the effectiveness of state fumigation campaigns or the actual availability of resources to deal with the epidemic.
Authorities assure that the anti-vector actions “remain reinforced”
The effect of the rains in recent weeks has favored the spread of the mosquito that transmits not only oropouche but also dengue and chikungunya. Concern has risen throughout the Island, since an epidemiological alert was announced in late September in Cárdenas (Matanzas), with symptoms showing up in all the Popular Councils.
From the same province, Doctor Miguel Alejandro Guerra Domínguez, a physician suffering from the shortage of reagents in the Territorial Hospital of Cárdenas, reported on his social networks that he had not been given the tests required for the evolution and follow-up of this disease. “A hospital that does not guarantee the basics for dengue diagnosis and follow-up is seriously failing its population,” he said on his Facebook page.
A clinical laboratory technician in Holguín, who requested anonymity, repeated the same thing: no reagents, no PCR kits, no basic supplies. “We do not have disposable items such as gloves, syringes or needles. And it’s the same everywhere, from polyclinics to hospitals. We practically come in just to punch a clock. There’s nothing to work with.”
The lab technician, from Holguín, who also carried out internationalist missions in countries in Africa and Latin America, warns: “Official statistics are not reliable at all. If we had to inflate the data to justify the need to keep Cuban doctors there, imagine what is being done inside the country to support the myth of Cuba as a medical power.”
“If we had to inflate the data to justify the need to keep Cuban doctors there, imagine what is being done inside the country”
Although the official discourse constantly blames US sanctions for shortages, this explanation does not address the structural causes underlying the problem. Lack of transparency in the availability and management of resources, insufficient investment in infrastructure and migration of health personnel are key factors aggravating the crisis.
BioCubaFarma Group, responsible for supplying 62 per cent of the Island’s basic range of medicines, has expanded its exports to 41 countries through joint ventures and cooperation agreements, and this export frenzy is detrimental to the domestic market.
The export of medical services, the Cuban State’s main source of income, also has no impact on improving health in the country. For example, in 2022, revenues from human health and social care services reached $4,882 million, representing 69% of total exported services, according to official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics and Information. However, the budget for hotel construction was four times higher than that spent on agriculture, education and health last year.
“Is dengue not an emergency? Does not a thrombocytopenia or hemoconcentration that is not detected in time put the patient’s life at risk? It is a total lack of respect for patients and medical practice,” lamented Dr Guerra in his public complaint. And he concludes: “A hospital that refuses to do the minimum tests required for a life-threatening disease is simply failing in its duty. And what’s more regrettable is that all the doctors who work here, by accepting and normalizing this situation, become accomplices to this health disaster.”
Translated by Regina Anavy
____________
COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.
