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A digital survey conducted by CubaData for Diario de Cuba between February 23 and March 13, 2026, involving 1,788 participants from across Cuba, reveals that the majority of Cubans face significant barriers to accessing medications and medical care.
The study, which lasted 19 days and is the second installment in a series of ten surveys planned by Diario de Cuba, asked participants how difficult it had been for them to obtain medication and medical care in the last 12 months.
In terms of medications, the results are clear: only 4.8% of respondents were able to obtain them without difficulty.
The rest reported some kind of obstacle in accessing medications: 41.4% said they had "some difficulty," raising the total percentage of Cubans who have issues obtaining medications to 95.6%.
40.4% reported "great difficulty" and 13.8% stated that it was impossible for them to obtain them, which adds up to a 54.2% of Cubans facing severe barriers to access medications.
The situation is no better regarding medical care: 37.1% reported experiencing "great difficulty" in receiving it, and 11% stated that it was impossible to obtain.
Additionally, 42.8% reported having "some difficulty" accessing medical services, leading to 90.9% of respondents indicating problems with healthcare access in the last year.
Summing both categories, 48.1% of respondents face significant difficulties accessing the public healthcare system, while only 5.3% reported having no issues.
The results reflect the ongoing deterioration of the Cuban healthcare system, characterized by a shortage of medications, a deficit of healthcare personnel, and increasing difficulties in accessing consultations, treatments, and hospital services.
The shortage of medications and the lack of medical care are also among the most critical issues at home: 39.4% of those surveyed list them among their top three concerns, and 31.9% include medical care in that same group.
Both issues appear on a list that also includes inflation, blackouts, food shortages, and an energy crisis, highlighting the increasing weight of health among the everyday concerns of Cuban families.
Cubadata also acknowledged a gender imbalance in the sample due to the limited access of Cuban women to the internet and mobile devices, although it asserted that it had ensured sufficient participation to uphold the statistical validity of the results.
These data align with what the Cuban authorities themselves have acknowledged.
The Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, admitted in July 2025 before the National Assembly that Cuba only had 30% of the essential medicine supply available.
Of the 651 essential medicines in the basic list, 461 are in complete shortage or low availability nationwide.
In Villa Clara, provincial authorities acknowledged on February 27, 2026, that 368 out of 636 medications are in short supply, and that “all pharmacological families are affected”.
The health crisis extends beyond just medications. More than 96,387 patients are on surgical waiting lists in Cuba, including 11,193 children.
The infant mortality rate closed 2025 at 9.9 per thousand live births, almost triple the 3.9 recorded in 2018, an indicator of the progressive collapse of the system.
This is compounded by the massive emigration of doctors—estimated at 15,000 just in 2025—and power outages of up to 20 hours a day that directly affect medical services, as documented by Human Rights Watch in its World Report 2026.
The survey also reflects the general deterioration of living conditions: 78.2% of households reported that someone skipped at least one meal due to food shortages, and 57.1% rated the country's situation as "very bad," up from 52.3% in the first survey of the series, conducted between January and February 2026.
That increase in just a few weeks indicates a rapid deterioration in citizens' perception of a crisis that the Cuban regime has failed to reverse after more than six decades in power.
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