“I don’t even go to state pharmacies because I know there’s nothing like that.”
14ymedio, Mercedes García, Sancti Spíritus, September 7, 2025 — Some have gray hair while others are young, united by their need for some of the medications in short supply at government-run pharmacies. Outside Holy Spirit Church, patients and relatives of the chronically ill gather every Saturday looking for drugs to treat fevers, diabetes, or asthma. These medications are distributed free of charge here upon presentation of a medical prescription.
At the corner of Boulevard and Honorato del Castillo Park, Belkis is one of the more than 2.5 million Cubans with hypertension waiting in line. “I came to see if they have enalapril or some other medication that will help me control my blood pressure because right now I have good days and others with very dangerous spikes.” The 66-year-old Sancti Spiritus resident has been coming here for months in search of the pills she needs.
“I have a card but, since the beginning of this year, I haven’t been able to buy all the medicines I need at the pharmacy. Sometimes they have them and some times they don’t,” she says. Cuba’s drug shortage primarily affects products manufactured on the island, which accounts for 80% of the basic supply. “To say that this situation will be resolved in the next few days would be irresponsible,” Health Minister José Ángel Portal Miranda admitted last year. The situation has only worsened since then.
For Belkis, the service provided by the city’s Catholic Church has made the difference between “ending up in a hospital emergency room every week or leading a more or less normal life.” The facility also distributes medical supplies and devices for bedridden patients. “I came for some disposable diapers for my grandmother, who has been bedridden for over a year,” explains a young man who has received gauze, cotton and cream to alleviate the elderly woman’s bedsores. “I don’t even bother with the government’s pharmacies because I know they don’t have any of those things.”
Other religious communities, such as the growing number of evangelical groups, also offer medications, vitamins, nutritional supplements and supplies for hospital patients. While the black market offers a wide array of pharmaceuticals and healthcare products, public health officials warn of the dangers of buying these items there. “I feel safer coming here than looking for them on the street,” admits Belkis as she waits her turn in line at the small parish dispensary. If she can get some enalapril this Saturday, she will have a few worry-free days ,” she claims.
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