The Ministry of Public Health of Cuba (MINSAP) once again demonstrated the precariousness and improvisation with which the regime is tackling the severe epidemiological crisis the country is facing.
In the midst of the simultaneous expansion of dengue, chikungunya, and other arboviral diseases, health authorities have gone as far as recommending that the population "cover their bodies" as a preventive measure due to the lack of repellents and basic resources to control the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
During a report broadcast by the National Television News (NTV), the Deputy Minister of MINSAP, Carilda Peña García, acknowledged that “the complex economic scenario of the country does not allow for the mass procurement of all the necessary supplies for antibacterial efforts.”
In other words: there are no resources for fumigation or to ensure even minimal protection for the population, yet the official media maintains its usual triumphant tone, celebrating "the strengths of the Cuban public health system, recognized internationally."
Partial fumigation and "smoke cars"
The figures for "smoke cars" and "bazookas" provided by Peña García are insignificant for applying adulticidal treatments in response to an outbreak affecting the entire national territory, with "a rate of 24.3 cases per 100,000 inhabitants," according to data from MINSAP itself.
The deputy minister admitted that fumigation is only carried out “in the areas of highest intensity and where there is evidence of transmission,” a diplomatic way of acknowledging that there is not enough fuel or insecticide to cover the entire island.
An out-of-control epidemic
In the same press conference, another deputy minister, Reynol Delfín García Moreiro, reported that nine additional respiratory and digestive viruses are currently circulating in Cuba, which exacerbates the health situation and the saturation of hospitals.
"We may encounter a child or an adult with a fever, diarrhea, and nasal discharge who has dengue, chikungunya, and also influenza," he acknowledged.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, the MINSAP insisted that the country has the "necessary resources" to address the issue "in a directed manner," a claim that stands in stark contrast to the everyday reality of Cubans: pharmacies running out of supplies, hospitals lacking essential materials, unavailability of repellents in national currency, and basic products only offered in dollar stores.
"Covering the body": The new official remedy
Due to the inability to guarantee effective repellents or fumigation, the NTV report concluded with an unusual recommendation: to wear clothing that covers most of the body to prevent mosquito bites.
The suggestion, which has sparked outrage and ridicule on social media, highlights the hypocrisy and impotence of the regime, which, instead of taking responsibility for its lack of planning and resources, shifts the burden of prevention onto a population that is exhausted, hungry, sick, and without alternatives.
Meanwhile, the authorities repeat the old slogan that "the strength of the Cuban health system is recognized internationally," a hollow discourse that contrasts with the actual deterioration of hospitals, the lack of medications, and the State's inability to control an outbreak that has already taken lives in silence.
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