During the Health Minister’s visit, the “illegal sale of services, medicines and resources” was discussed
14ymedio, Havana, 1 February 2025 — On Friday, Cuban Health Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda, speaking in Villa Clara, criticized the failures in the “compliance with medical ethics,” a euphemism that describes the corruption of medical services in the province. His delegation also detected “unsuitable results” in the state of the facilities, the production of medicines, the training of personnel and the “political and ideological” situation of health workers.
Villa Clara can only boast about its zero maternal mortality rate – for the last two years – and the decrease in the number of low birth weight children, the lowest in the country. The infant mortality rate is 7.1 per 1,000 live births and the number of children under five who have died has increased, but it was not stated by how much. These figures, which local leaders consider positive, are the only ones reported by the local media.
Vanguardia, the official provincial press, one of the most orthodox and uncritical in the country, did not know how to describe the minister’s diatribe. Directly supervised by the Communist Party, to local newspaper was content to publish an opinion piece that indirectly alluded to Portal Miranda’s words, which put “the dots on the i’s.”
The CMHW radio station’s website, for its part, reduced the scolding to a “fruitful exchange” with the official.
The CMHW radio station’s website, for its part, reduced the scolding to a “fruitful exchange” with the official. Only the Telecubanacán website – little read by Villa Clara residents – noted the minister’s “critical view,” which “reviewed the achievements and deficiencies of the sector.” Reference was made, above all, to “aging population, low birth rates, epidemics, drugs and the sustainability of services.”
In a comment on the meeting, pro-government journalist Ricardo González agreed with the minister and offered more details: in Villa Clara there is “illegal sale of services, medicines and resources.” In addition, there is “favoritism in consultations,” especially for “performing a surgery or reaching a diagnosis.” Care depends on “a gift or a perk” to the staff.
“We know who they are and yet nothing happens,” concluded González, who attributed this “behavior of profit and survival” to the lack of medical resources. The journalist also referred to “those who mistreat” in hospitals and “spoil the work.”
On the other hand, some 200 medical offices in the province – including the residences of medical and nursing staff – are in a terrible state of construction, according to the report from the local leaders to Portal Miranda. This is one of the factors that affect the “stability and permanence of doctors,” they added, who are stampeding “towards other sectors of the economy with higher remuneration and towards emigration.”
The minister did not hesitate to blame the Washington embargo for the shortcomings that depend on the Government
The minister did not hesitate to blame the Washington embargo for the shortcomings that depend on the Government and not on the provincial administration. If there is one thing that all the media in Villa Clara agree on, it is that Portal Miranda repeated the slogan that has become popular among the regime’s cadres: “the blockade* is real.”
Together with local leaders of the Communist Party, Portal Miranda also called for a complete reorganization of medical services. After the criticism, the bulk of the meeting was devoted to awarding government distinctions to doctors with a “selfless record of service” not only to Healthcare, but also to the regime.
*Translator’s note: A reference to the US embargo, which the Cuban government refers to as a blockade.
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