Related videos:
The Cuban regime announced the dispatch of five new ambulances to the province of Pinar del Río to strengthen the medical emergency system, as published on Facebook by the Provincial Health Directorate of that territory.
The delivery comes amidst a structural collapse of the Cuban healthcare system, where complaints from patients and their families waiting for ambulances for hours—sometimes without any arriving—have become a constant throughout the island.
The official institution described the vehicles—from the Chinese manufacturer Dongfeng— as "modern ambulances" and characterized the contribution as "a significant step in the effort to ensure faster and more effective responses to emergencies, accidents, and transfers of patients requiring specialized care."
However, the reality faced by Cubans contradicts that official optimism. The Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) itself acknowledged that Cuba only has 39.6% of the necessary ambulances to respond to medical emergencies, representing a deficit of over 60%, according to its annual report for 2022.
In Matanzas, for example, only 16 out of the 54 required ambulances were operational—less than one third of the minimum fleet needed—according to data from January of this year.
The Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, stated in February that the Cuban healthcare system was "on the verge of collapse", attributing the deterioration to blackouts, a lack of fuel, and the aging healthcare vehicle fleet.
A MINSAP official, Abel González Palmero, acknowledged that wait times for an ambulance could exceed five hours in some cases.
The consequences of this deficit have been deadly. In April, Alexis Rosales Aldama died in Santiago de Cuba after waiting more than four hours for an ambulance that did not arrive on time. His wife, Nelsy Betancourt Tamayo, reported: "My husband died waiting for an ambulance." The hospital claimed that the unit could not leave until four patients were assembled due to fuel issues.
In January, a 42-year-old former police officer, Yordanis Beltrán Beltrán, died in Santiago de Cuba after waiting for more than two hours for medical attention and an ambulance.
Pinar del Río is not exempt from this crisis. In February, the province had already implemented drastic cuts in medical care due to the energy crisis and fuel shortages: reduction of Medibus service, postponement of elective surgeries, community consultations only every two weeks, and prioritization of hemodialysis in nearby centers to avoid transfers.
That same province had received three ambulances in February, part of a batch of 50 units imported by MINSAP and allocated to Consolación del Sur, the provincial capital, and Sandino.
The government has tried to cover the deficit with one-time purchases: in December 2023, it announced the acquisition of 99 ambulances; in January of this year, it purchased 50 additional units; in February, it incorporated 25 Chinese electric ambulances from the Foton brand, mainly designated for Havana.
The five new units sent to Pinar del Río represent, in this context, another temporary fix to a structural deficit that 67 years of communist dictatorship have left unresolved, while the United Nations activated a humanitarian plan in April for $94.1 million to address the health and food emergency in Cuba.
Filed under: