The Cuban content creator Briana Espino explained why her mother, a doctor in Cuba, has started a side business in her free time to earn extra money, as her salary is not sufficient.
In an Instagram video, Briana showed how she helps her mom to sell homemade flans to get by. The monthly salary does not cover the family's basic needs.
"My mom is a doctor in Cuba, and this is her business. Her monthly salary is 8,000 Cuban pesos working in a hospital and saving lives, which would be 20 dollars," explains Briana in the video.
The young woman starkly describes the paradox faced by thousands of healthcare professionals on the island.
"The truth is it's painful to see how after studying for 6 years, graduating in what you are passionate about, you end up selling flans because your salary isn't enough."
Briana also notes that her mother can earn in two days selling flans what she makes as a doctor in an entire month.
"Most doctors in Cuba have to work in something else in addition to their profession, as their monthly salary is barely enough for anything."
The case of Briana's mother is no exception. A Cuban worker earns barely five dollars a month at the informal exchange rate of April 2026, when the dollar is valued at over 520 pesos on the black market.
The basic basket for two people in Havana exceeds 41,000 pesos per month, which means that a doctor's salary barely covers 16% of the basic cost of living.
Faced with this reality, many professionals choose to emigrate or engage in informal entrepreneurship. Between 2021 and 2024, Cuba lost approximately 77,522 healthcare professionals. In July 2025, the Minister of Health himself admitted to the collapse of the healthcare system.
The average salary in Cuba in 2025 was around 6,930 pesos, an amount that in the informal market translates to just over 13 dollars.
"It's incredible how selling flans, for which you don't need to study or work as hard as a doctor, can earn you in two days what a healthcare professional makes in a month," Briana concludes, summarizing in a single sentence the tragedy of a system that has devalued knowledge and dedication.
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