In response to the escalating public health crisis affecting the Cuban people, the medical organizations Solidaridad Sin Fronteras and Cruz Verde Internacional have called for the declaration of a health emergency alert in Cuba, after the regime itself officially acknowledged an epidemic of chikungunya.
In a press conference over the weekend in Miami, Taimy Alfonso, president of Cruz Verde Internacional, denounced that the Cuban health crisis is compounded by the inappropriate appropriation carried out by the regime of part of the humanitarian aid sent from exile.
"We are tired of sending things to help people only for them to be stolen and then sold," lamented Alfonso.
"We are willing to continue helping, but the aid should not be stolen. It should be delivered directly to the victims, because that community cannot take it anymore: they have no money, no food, nothing. It's a tragedy," he added.
Also from Solidaridad Sin Fronteras, they denounce that the regime confiscates medical donations and basic products intended for the victims and the ill in Cuba.
“No podemos quedarnos con los brazos cruzados mientras nuestros hermanos, nuestros niños, nuestras mujeres embarazadas y nuestros ancianos mueren como animales,” expressed Julio César Alfonso, president of the NGO.
The Ministry of Public Health of Cuba (MINSAP) confirmed that the country is facing an epidemic of chikungunya and officially reported more than 31,000 suspected cases. However, Cuban doctors in exile claim that the actual number could be much higher.
“We do not know the actual figures, in addition to the fact that they hide them so it does not affect their image or international tourism,” stated Dr. Alfredo Melgar, founder of Solidaridad Sin Fronteras.
From the Movimiento Democracia, its president Ramón Saúl Sánchez reported that “the dictatorship is not acknowledging the tragedy that the Cuban people are experiencing” and pointed out that in multiple communities across the island “people are counting the dead every day.”
Non-governmental organizations also warned about the risks this situation poses for travelers, urging the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States to raise the health alert for Cuba to level 4, the highest level, which advises against traveling to the island. Currently, the advisory remains at level 2, which recommends traveling with precautions.
Solidarity Without Borders and International Green Cross have called on other organizations to join in a joint petition to multilateral organizations, to advocate for urgent healthcare intervention in Cuba that can save lives and prevent a greater catastrophe.
The Cuban regime acknowledged last week that the country is facing a chikungunya epidemic and that diagnoses for dengue are also ongoing.
No cases of Oropouche virus have been reported since September, and no cases of Zika have been detected; however, there are mosquitoes Aedes aegypti in the country, and that virus is present in the region, so the possibility of transmission exists. MINSAP assures that for these reasons, they also maintain epidemiological surveillance for this disease.
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