A Cuban father reported on social media this Friday about the conditions at the polyclinic in Güira de Melena, in the province of Artemisa, where he went on Thursday night with his sick child and found a facility with poor lighting, no medications, and medical personnel working under minimal conditions.
The testimony published on Facebook by the user identified as Fugitivo Kings described a scene likened to "the hospitals from horror movies, dimly lit," while noting that the polyclinic has solar panels, but they barely power a few light bulbs.
According to their account, the doctor who treated their son displayed a professional and friendly demeanor, although he was unable to provide treatment because the center lacked duralgina, gravinol, and other medications. "There was nothing for a patient in that place," they summarized.
The father also reported on the conditions in which healthcare staff work. He stated that during the night shift they were given as a snack "a tiny green bread and a juice," a situation that, in his opinion, reflects the neglect faced by workers in the sector.
In his post, he also questioned the local authorities. "What are the leaders of Güira doing besides deceiving and stealing 18 million as they did recently?", he wrote.
He also rejected the official narrative about the Cuban healthcare system. "Where is the medical power they talk so much about? There is nothing in this country," he added.
The post elicited numerous reactions from people who claimed to have had similar experiences. A user who said they work in the healthcare sector asserted that "those of us who are working do it out of love for the job, because we have no conditions, the salary is garbage."
Another commentator argued that the problem extends throughout the entire country. "What happens in this clinic is happening in all of them across the country, and no one cares. For the leaders and their families, everything is guaranteed in the best hospitals," he wrote.
A third party warned about the impact of these shortcomings on healthcare. "For that very reason, they arrive and die, because there is nothing or very little available. And the saddest part is that it's like this in every municipality," he commented.
The health system of Artemisa faces issues of shortages, a lack of specialized personnel, and deteriorating equipment since at least July 2025. The situation worsened after the passage of Hurricane Rafael, which damaged dozens of health centers in the province.
The crisis, however, is national. In February, the Minister of Public Health José Ángel Portal Miranda declared that the system was "on the brink of collapse", and by April of that year, 461 out of 651 essential medications were missing from state pharmacies, over 70% of the basic list.
In June, the state-owned BioCubaFarma acknowledged that it cannot guarantee nearly 300 medications out of the 395 committed to the national health system. In this regard, the entity attributed the shortage to the U.S. embargo and a funding gap exceeding 250 million dollars, an explanation that many sectors of the population rejected, citing internal inefficiency and corruption.
A survey conducted between February and March with over 1,700 participants revealed that 54.2% of Cubans face severe barriers to obtaining medications, while only 4.8% managed to obtain them without difficulty.
Meanwhile, Cuban doctors survive on between 10 and 16 dollars a month, and those who dare to expose the real conditions of medical centers face retaliation from the regime.
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