HAVANA — Cuba’s healthcare system is struggling under severe shortages of medicine, equipment and personnel, leaving patients facing long waits for treatment and lifesaving procedures.
At Havana’s National Institute of Oncology and Radiobiology, 64-year-old Rosa Valentina Perez has spent nearly three weeks waiting for a CT scan to determine whether her breast cancer has spread to her spine after losing mobility in her legs. The city’s only functioning CT scanner is at another hospital, where the waiting list remains long.
Health officials said the country’s medical system has deteriorated following the COVID-19 pandemic, tighter U.S. sanctions and an ongoing energy crisis, resulting in power outages, equipment failures and an exodus of healthcare workers.
Cancer institute director Luis Eduardo Martin said about 80% of the facility’s diagnostic and treatment equipment is obsolete or broken, while more than 1,200 patients are waiting for radiotherapy.
The crisis has also affected children, with Cuba’s childhood cancer survival rate falling from 85% before the crisis to 65%, according to government data. Doctors said shortages of equipment, medical supplies and fuel have limited routine testing and treatment.
Heart care has likewise suffered. The National Institute of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery said annual heart surgeries have dropped from more than 400 in 2018 to about 100, while around 130 patients are awaiting pacemaker implants.
Hospitals have also been forced to shorten dialysis sessions because of staffing shortages, a measure doctors say could reduce patients’ life expectancy.
Despite technicians repairing aging equipment and improvising to keep machines running, healthcare workers say resource shortages continue to hamper patient care across the country.
