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The exiled Cuban doctor Miguel Ángel Ruano Sánchez published a letter on Tuesday, on behalf of the Guild of Cuban Doctors in Exile, addressed to the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel and the Minister of Public Health José Ángel Portal Miranda, demanding an urgent response to the health crisis the island is facing.
The statement, published on Facebook from Bogotá, Colombia, warns about the serious clinical, hygienic, and epidemiological deterioration in Cuba, where cases allegedly associated with an arbovirosis have multiplied, and the lack of basic medications prevents appropriate treatment for patients.
In the text, the guild denounces the state's neglect, the government's information blackout, and the absence of a clear scientific strategy to tackle the crisis.
Moreover, it warns about the alleged attempt by the regime to experiment with a drug as part of a "clinical trial" without transparency or verified technical support.
The letter, addressed to Díaz-Canel and Minister Portal Miranda, was sent with a copy to the World Health Organization (WHO) in an attempt to internationalize concern over the health situation on the island.
Exiled doctors recall that their claim is backed by several articles of the Cuban Constitution—including those that guarantee the right to health, life, and physical integrity—and hold the State accountable for failing to meet its obligations.
“The Cuban people find themselves in a state of helplessness in the face of an epidemic that the government itself has been unable to control,” the document warns, demanding an emergency response and effective measures to stop the spread of the disease.
The Guild of Cuban Doctors in Exile concludes that the crisis cannot be justified by climatic or seasonal factors, but rather is a consequence of institutional neglect and lack of resources, exacerbated by the opacity with which the regime handles information regarding public health.
The regime recently reported more than 20,000 cases of chikungunya in Cuba, although citizen reports indicate a much wider spread of the virus, with neighborhoods completely devastated.
For this reason, the Cuban art historian and activist Yamilka Lafita Cancio, known as Lara Crofs on social media, sent an open letter to the ruler Miguel Díaz-Canel and the Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, demanding explanations regarding the sustained increase in cases of chikungunya and other arboviruses that are ravaging the Cuban population.
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