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Dozens of kidney patients at the Saturnino Lora Provincial Hospital in Santiago de Cuba were left in the waiting room on Tuesday, uncertain whether they would receive the treatment necessary for their survival, according to a report by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada shared on Facebook.
The problems began the previous Saturday, when patients were only able to undergo dialysis thanks to a small amount of concentrate donated from the municipality of Guamá.
On Monday, the treatment was delayed, and on Tuesday, the patients scheduled for the 5:00 am shift waited seated because, as they were informed, there was no way to package the essential concentrate for the procedure.
Although the supplies finally arrived at the hospital that Tuesday, the situation is far from resolved. The patients themselves warned that the supply would be insufficient and that they could face the same crisis on Thursday.
To make matters worse, the shortage requires reducing the usual four-hour treatments to just two, compromising the effectiveness of the procedure and further endangering the health of those who rely on it.
"Nobody cares about us. A long time ago, the situation of hemodialysis patients stopped being of interest to anyone," expressed one of the affected individuals.
The whistleblowers approached Mayeta Labrada hoping that public visibility would pressure health authorities to act quickly and ensure a stable supply, rather than only reacting when the crisis has already reached an urgent level.
This situation is not an isolated incident, but rather part of a pattern that recurs throughout the country.
In June, patients at the Manuel Ascunce Domenech Hospital in Camagüey went almost a week without treatment due to a lack of acid concentrate and bicarbonate.
In April, the provincial authorities of Las Tunas threatened to suspend prioritized taxi services for kidney patients due to a shortage of fuel.
And in February, the healthcare transport was halted in multiple provinces, leaving patients without access to dialysis units.
The Hospital Saturnino Lora itself has a long list of complaints: in April, a power outage in the ICU forced the evacuation of 12 patients from intensive and intermediate care, and in December 2025, the nearby Hospital Juan Bruno Zayas suspended hemodialysis due to a lack of salt for the disinfection plant.
The collapse of the system is acknowledged even by the regime's own authorities.
The Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, admitted in February that the Cuban healthcare system was "on the brink of collapse", and in July 2025 he acknowledged that the country operates with only 30% of the basic medication supply.
Cuba has approximately 3,000 patients who depend on hemodialysis, distributed among 56 units throughout the national territory.
As a partial response to the transportation crisis, in May the government introduced 200 electric vehicles for the transportation of these patients, a measure that those affected consider inadequate given a problem that extends far beyond mobility: the shortage of essential chemical supplies directly threatens their lives every week.
"Health cannot depend on a last-minute supply. For these patients, every hour of waiting can mean the difference between life and death," wrote Mayeta Labrada at the conclusion of her statement.
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