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In the midst of an arboviral epidemic affecting Cuba, primarily dengue and chikungunya, the regime has recommended preparing rehydration salts at home due to its inability to ensure the availability of this basic medication.
The General Directorate of Health in Santiago de Cuba published a guide on this Tuesday for Cubans to make oral rehydration salts with "common" ingredients at home, amidst the spread of these illnesses in several provinces of the country.
"How to prepare rehydration salts at home?" reads the official post, which details the steps to mix a level teaspoon of salt, four teaspoons of sugar, one liter of boiled water, half a teaspoon of baking soda, and one teaspoon of lemon or bitter orange juice, with a maximum duration of 24 hours.
According to the text, this preparation “keeps the patient hydrated after the fever persists, when electrolytes and fluids are lost.”
The guidance, seemingly practical, is a display of the precariousness of the Cuban healthcare system, unable to ensure essential medications amidst one of the worst epidemiological and economic crises in recent years.
Moreover, the recommendation is ironic: lemons are sold at exorbitant prices, sugar is scarce even in stores, and baking soda has long been unavailable in the retail market.
The state suggestion to "create" a homemade serum illustrates the profound inability of the regime to sustain public health services, which were once considered a propaganda emblem of the system.
The outbreak of arboviruses —which includes deadly cases of dengue, oropouche, and chikungunya— keeps hospital and polyclinic wards overwhelmed in several provinces, especially in the eastern part of the country.
Despite this, health authorities have hardly officially acknowledged the limitations in the supply of medications and the magnitude of the crisis, although the figures provided by the regime are far from reality.
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