Family and neighbors of Manuel Andrés Boltre Diegues, a young worker at the cement factory in Nuevitas, have been searching for over a month for the antibiotics he needs to survive an active bacterial meningitis diagnosed at the Amalia Simoni Hospital in Camagüey, where he is currently hospitalized.
The call for help was shared this Saturday in the Facebook group La Farándula de Nuevitas Amazon by Lisandra Fuentes, who shared an anonymous post with the story of the young man and a contact number for those who wish to help.
"He is very ill and in need of a medication that is unavailable," warns the text, which identifies the required drugs: Meronem (meropenem) and piperacillin-tazobactam, two broad-spectrum antibiotics that doctors consider essential for treating the infection, but which are not available in the hospital.
Without these medications, the patient's condition could worsen irreversibly. Meropenem is the first-line antibiotic for bacterial meningitis in adults, and its shortage in Cuban hospitals has been documented since at least 2024.
Those who can obtain the medications or make donations for the family to acquire them can contact the number 50209535.
"I hope you can help this good young man," concludes the post circulating on social media, while the family awaits a response that the Cuban health system cannot provide.
A few hours later, through his profile on Facebook, the user Yasmany Hernández confirmed that he was already at Amalia Hospital with "part of the medication to start the cycle. We are waiting for 70 vials of Meronem to arrive tomorrow for his recovery."
He expressed his heartfelt gratitude to "all those individuals who have been able to contribute their bit and are supporting this family."
The incident occurs in a hospital facing its own crisis. On July 8, a fire in the generator at Amalia Simoni forced the evacuation of newborns to the Pediatric Hospital of Camagüey.
That same month, a pulmonologist from the center passed away in a context described as one of "sustained collapse of the healthcare system in Camagüey."
The province has recorded emblematic cases of deaths due to a lack of medications. In February, a 26-year-old woman died at the Manuel Ascunce hospital due to the absence of norepinephrine.
In June, dialysis patients went almost a week without treatment at that same center due to a lack of basic supplies.
The shortage affecting Manuel Andrés is not an isolated case. According to data from ONEI, in April 2026, the scarcity of basic medications in Cuba reached over 95%, with 461 out of 651 drugs in the National Basic List unavailable.
The the shortage of 56% of the medications on the National Essential List.
In the face of the government's abandonment, social media has become the primary channel for citizen solidarity. Recently, similar calls for help have multiplied: an eight-year-old Cuban girl in a situation of extreme vulnerability, a mother with a child who has a disability, and a campaign that raised 45,000 pesos for several families in crisis.
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