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The Cuban Carlos Arturo Ruiz Echevarría published an urgent call on Facebook asking for help to secure a surgical slot for his mother, Magaly Beatriz Echavarría Ruiz, 64 years old, residing in Marianao, Havana, diagnosed with infiltrating adenocarcinoma in the ascending colon, a type of colon cancer that urgently requires surgery.
"It's a critical situation, and time is running against us. We have gone to several hospitals, including the Military Hospital, and to this day, they have not provided us with a solution or a date for her surgery. We are running out of options, and my mother's health is deteriorating more each day," the man wrote in his post.
Carlos Arturo is seeking any medical contacts, guidance from individuals who have recently gone through similar situations in Cuba, or access to necessary medical supplies for the surgery.
The case illustrates the collapse of the Cuban healthcare system. According to UN data from May 2026, on the island, including over 11,000 children.
Hospitals have suspended most surgical procedures except for those of extreme urgency, due to power outages lasting up to twenty hours, as well as shortages of fuel, medications, and supplies. The Pan American Health Organization reported 385 healthcare facilities damaged across the country.
The Minister of Public Health himself acknowledged in July 2025 that the coverage of the essential medicine list had fallen to 30%.
The Military Hospital of Marianao, one of the centers the family visited, has accumulated repeated complaints. In January 2025, a video showed its facilities in deplorable condition, with dirty bathrooms, closed areas, and deteriorating operating rooms. In May 2026, a patient reported that in that same center, her eight-stitch wound was not sutured due to a lack of materials. Since 2023, it had been reported that the hospital lacked equipment for basic procedures.
That even military hospitals—historically better equipped than civilian ones—are in this situation reveals the depth of the crisis affecting the island's healthcare system after decades of dictatorship.
Infiltrating adenocarcinoma of the ascending colon is primarily treated with a right hemicolectomy. Delaying the intervention may allow for tumor progression, the emergence of metastases, and irreversible clinical deterioration. A Cuban study conducted in Cienfuegos showed that patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer who received chemotherapy had a five-year survival rate of 88.9%, compared to 35.6% for those who did not receive it.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Cuba according to the 2024 Health Statistical Yearbook. In 2021, nearly 27,000 Cubans died from this disease, and tumors of the intestine and colon rank among the most common. The lack of access to timely oncological surgery turns treatable diagnoses into death sentences.
"I seek nothing but to save my mother's life. Please, if you can help me bring attention to this or if you know someone who can shed some light in the midst of all this despair, I would be forever grateful," concluded Carlos Arturo in his post, asking those who can help to message him privately.
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