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The announcement of the arrival in Cuba of the first shipment of 81-milligram aspirin, produced in China under a bilateral agreement with the company Hubei C&C, sparked a wave of comments on social media, where many Cubans reacted with irony, indignation, or resignation in light of what they see as yet another sign of the deterioration of the healthcare system.
According to the official version, the shipment is part of the government's strategy to “ensure the population's access to essential medications” and aims to meet national demand throughout 2026. The text emphasizes that the cooperation with the Chinese plant in Wuhan relies on the infrastructure of the Hubei C&C company and on the profits obtained from the sale of PPG, with the goal of ensuring supply stability.
But on social media, the tone was very different. In the news post on the CiberCuba Noticias Facebook page, for example, most comments expressed skepticism about the actual fate of the medication and criticized the official discourse of healthcare self-sufficiency. “The pack is up to 700 pesos. Wait for that price; they won’t be giving it away, it’s a donation for the government,” wrote one user, while another summarized sarcastically: “What enters pharmacies through one door, leaves through another.”
Other messages questioned the priority of the announcement: “What we need is food, not aspirin. The people are starving.” Several users reported that the donated medications rarely reach state pharmacies and end up being resold in the informal market: “That goes everywhere except to those who really need it,” noted one person.
There were also recurring doubts about the use of the drug in the epidemiological context of the country: “Isn't aspirin contraindicated for dengue and other conditions? I didn’t understand,” wrote one person, to which another replied: “As far as I know, yes, it is contraindicated.”
Frustration was the dominant feeling. "They should be ashamed that they can't even produce aspirin in the country," said one internet user. Another, with an ironic tone, added: "Chinese aspirin... well, they should have aspirin for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, given the number of blackouts there are." And a phrase that was repeated in dozens of responses distilled the popular sentiment: "The medical power can't even produce aspirin."
Citizen skepticism reflects the weariness of a healthcare system that is experiencing one of its worst crises in decades. The shortage of medications, the deterioration of the pharmaceutical network, and dependence on imports have forced the regime to turn to cooperation with China and to promote natural treatments as a temporary alternative.
In recent months, the country has enhanced the production of syrups and plant extracts in provincial laboratories, such as those of the company Medilip in Granma, a measure aimed at compensating for the decline in industrial production, according to a recent report on the focus on natural products in light of the pharmaceutical crisis.
While the government presents the arrival of Chinese aspirin as an achievement of international cooperation, a significant portion of the population perceives it as yet another reminder of external dependency and internal precariousness. On social media, reactions multiplied in recent posts where Cubans expressed, amidst irony and fatigue, their distrust towards state management and their fear that the medication may never reach pharmacies.
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