Evelyn Pineda Concepción, mother of a nine-year-old boy living with HIV, has once again raised her voice publicly to denounce the institutional neglect her son suffers as a result of the Cuban health system.
“I’m going to take my child to the street so that a patrol car can take us to the hospital”, she warned in a recent interview with the independent media CubaNet.
The minor, William Echevarría Pineda, has faced a complex medical situation since birth: he lives with HIV, cerebral dysplasia, cerebral toxoplasmosis, hepatitis B, pulmonary tuberculosis, and has suffered multiple paralysis episodes on the left side.
In addition to this, he has a motor disability: the child cannot walk and requires specialized and constant medical attention.
His mother reports that he has gone nine months without receiving a single medical consultation, neither at the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine (IPK) nor at the Pediatric Hospital of Centro Habana, where he should be seen by a neurologist.
The reason, according to information from the Municipal Health Directorate of Guanabacoa, is the lack of medical transport. “They tell me to take him by my own means. How am I supposed to do that if he can't walk and I have no resources?” questioned the woman in her video of complaint.
A prolonged and documented abandonment
This is not the first time that Evelyn has reported the situation regarding her son. Since at least 2021, she has publicly protested in front of her home with signs demanding medical attention for herself and medication for the child.
In previous statements, she has expressed on several occasions how local and health authorities ignore her demands for medical attention for herself and her son, a minor with chronic illnesses acquired due to medical negligence at the time of birth.
According to a report in February 2021, William contracted HIV during birth, when a poorly performed cesarean by a medical student led to the breach of basic health protocols.
"They told me they would take me to the hospital and that a professional would perform the cesarean, but a student attended to me. That's where I got the baby infected," she stated at the time.
Subsequently, the hospital authorities, instead of acknowledging the mistake, concealed the results of the minor's HIV tests for months, using excuses such as "the vial broke" or "the sample coagulated."
A mother under pressure and on the verge of collapse
Evelyn's case also reflects the emotional and social deterioration that many caregiver mothers in Cuba experience.
In March 2024, Pineda herself attempted suicide out of desperation caused by the lack of food and medical attention for her son. She was hospitalized after taking medication in an attempt to take her own life.
On that occasion, she reported that her son was completely helpless while she was being taken to a health center.
"I can't take it anymore. I have to find food, medicine, medical attention... all on my own, and nothing works. Neither the Government nor Public Health provides me with solutions," she expressed in one of her statements gathered by this outlet.
Official reaction and propaganda following another child abuse allegation
Reports like Evelyn's arise in a context of intense social tension and criticism towards the collapsed Cuban healthcare system.
Just a few weeks ago, the case of the child Geobel Damir Ortiz, diagnosed with type 1 neurofibromatosis and acute leukemia, sparked a wave of public outrage after it was revealed that he needed to be transferred to the United States for treatment.
His situation provoked an official reaction in the form of a propaganda campaign, where the regime attempted to counteract the criticisms with messages about “public health achievements”, highlighting the work of medical professionals in state media and institutional networks.
In parallel, several officials admitted to shortages in hospitals, others turned to social media to counter the official narratives, and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz attempted to mitigate the political damage by praising the commitment of healthcare professionals.
Nevertheless, the contrast between propaganda and reality is becoming increasingly unsustainable. Cases like that of William Echevarría—a sick child, immobilized, without care for months—expose the harshness of a crisis that cannot be glossed over with official rhetoric.
International requests and humanitarian visa
In 2023, William's mother even managed a humanitarian visa application for her son in the hope of obtaining treatment abroad. However, to date, no organization has taken on the case, and the boy continues to wait in a home lacking basic conditions, without medication and with minimal guarantees for his health.
The pattern of neglect towards people with HIV is not new either. In February of that same year, CiberCuba reported that the regime denied urgent surgery to Evelyn Pineda Concepción, also an HIV patient, who revealed that she had been waiting for more than 18 days for a surgery on some lymph nodes without receiving any response from the medical authorities.
"They are letting my son die."
Pineda has insisted that this is not an isolated case. "There are several children who are dying because they are not being attended to. In Cuba, there are no medications, there is nothing. They let them die," he stated during the interview with CubaNet.
She fears that if she doesn’t take drastic action, such as protesting publicly or filing a stronger complaint, her son will simply fade away into bureaucratic oblivion and state apathy.
William Echevarría's story not only encapsulates the situation of thousands of neglected Cubans, but it also portrays the drama of a mother who has tried everything: protesting, reporting, resisting… and still she waits.
Meanwhile, the regime insists on repeating its slogans of "free and universal" health care, without acknowledging the real plight of those who do not fall within its official statistics.
Filed under:
