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[SITUATION] · [ACTIVE]

2 clusters · 6 sources · 29 days · First seen 29 days ago · Last updated about 4 hours ago

Categories: HEALTH

Cuban healthcare crisis

Entities: Cuba · José Ángel Portal · Eduardo Martínez Díaz · Yoani Sánchezová · CiberCuba

Overview

In early July, reports highlighted that Cuba’s health system was struggling with shortages yet still managing to carry out complex procedures such as brain surgery. By early August, the situation had deteriorated sharply. More than 100,000 patients were on waiting lists for surgery, and hospitals faced daily power cuts, water shortages, and inoperable elevators. About 70 % of essential medicines were unavailable, a shortfall the government attributed to the U.S. oil embargo. Neonatal mortality rose to its highest level in over two decades, while birth numbers fell by roughly 3,100. Health officials described the system as near‑collapse, and political leaders condemned the sanctions as a humanitarian disaster.

Claims

What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.

[● 2 SOURCES] More than 100,000 patients are waiting for surgical operations in Cuba. (All three articles)
[● 2 SOURCES] The crisis has been exacerbated by the United States oil embargo. (Articles 2 and 3)
[● 2 SOURCES] Daily electricity outages and water supply interruptions affect Cuban hospitals. (Articles 2 and 3)
[● 2 SOURCES] Approximately 70 % of essential medicines are missing from Cuban pharmacies and hospital shelves. (Articles 2 and 3)
[● 2 SOURCES] Neonatal mortality in Cuba rose from 0.4 % in 2018 to nearly 1 % in 2025, reaching 1.4 % in Havana early 2025. (Articles 2 and 3)
[● 2 SOURCES] Only 68,051 children were born in Cuba in the most recent year, about 3,100 fewer than the previous year. (Articles 2 and 3)
[● 2 SOURCES] Vice President Eduardo Martínez Díaz called the U.S. sanctions a 'genocide'. (Articles 2 and 3)
[● 2 SOURCES] Health Minister José Ángel Portal said Cuba's healthcare system is on the brink of collapse. (Articles 2 and 3)

Timeline

about 4 hours ago

[HEALTH] 6 sources
Cuban healthcare crisis leaves over 100,000 patients waiting for surgery
Cuba's health system nears collapse: 100,000+ surgery waitlist, 70% drug shortages, rising infant deaths, and U.S. embargo blamed.
29 days ago

[HEALTH] 2 sources
Cuba's health system battles shortages and performs complex brain surgery
Cuba performed a complex brain aneurysm surgery in Sancti Spíritus while U.S. sanctions have left cancer patients without essential imaging and treatments, worsening health outcomes.

Sources

blesk.cz · ct24.cz · seznamzpravy.cz · zdravotnickydenik.cz · zlin.idnes.cz · zurnal.pravda.sk