Indignant Cuban in Mayabeque hospital: "Look at the filth that's here inside."

A user of the public healthcare system in Cuba has recorded a video showing the overcrowding and extreme unsanitary conditions endured by patients at the San José de las Lajas hospital in the western province of Mayabeque. "Look at the filth that's here," you can hear the person say as they show a toilet clogged with feces and a room completely packed with patients without any kind of privacy, as reported on Instagram by the post from JavierDíaz_TV.

These unpleasant images reflect what is happening and have already been seen in hospital centers in other provinces of a country that has gone from boasting about being a global medical power to hiding the massacre that took place in Cuba during the coronavirus pandemic, with hundreds of uncounted deaths. To this, one must add the Oropouche epidemic, which has spread throughout the country; dengue, Zika, and all the diseases that the Cuban health system is unable to keep under control due, among other reasons, to its negligence in collecting trash from the streets. In fact, there are studies that estimate that the regime fails to collect three swimming pools of waste each day.

What is happening at the hospital in San José de las Lajas is not an isolated case. Last May, the Cuban YouTuber Raisa Zequeira shared with her followers what a day is like at the Provincial Pediatric Hospital of Artemisa, where her four-year-old son was hospitalized. The images show the acute crisis that the Public Health system in Cuba is going through. In addition to the lack of medications, the scarcity of medical supplies, and the deteriorated hospital infrastructure, the unsanitary conditions of the hospital add to the situation.

Behind the deplorable state of Cuban hospitals is the lack of state investment in an essential public service and the export-exploitation of doctors, who are sent on missions abroad, leaving little staff on the Island, often poorly prepared.

According to the report from the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), from January to June 2024, the Cuban regime allocated almost 40% of its investments to activities related to tourism, while investment in Health and Social Assistance is 14 times lower, a fact that has been severely criticized by economists.

The worst part is that this diversion of resources to the tourism sector is not yielding results. Despite the fact that the Cuban regime invests 14 times more in tourism than in public health and social assistance, the arrival of visitors is not picking up on the Island, making it difficult to achieve the goal of recovering pre-pandemic figures, as 4.2 million tourists arrived in the country in 2019. According to data published by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI), Cuba registered 1,905,644 travelers from January to July 2024, numbers that fall below those recorded in the same period last year. In total, in the first seven months of this year, 15,263 fewer travelers arrived on the Island.