A Cuban doctor presented a simple yet devastating account of the miserable salaries affecting health professionals on the island: his monthly salary as a first-degree specialist is not enough to buy a ten-pound bag of chicken, a bottle of oil, and a carton of eggs.
Daniel Del Toro González, a doctor at the Pediatric Hospital of Las Tunas, made the comparison in a Facebook post highlighting inflation and its dire consequences on people.
"Specialist doctor in first grade: base salary of 8,500 —I think, because they raised it, my mom told me—. A 10-pound package of chicken: 6,500, a bottle of oil: 4,000 pesos, a carton of eggs: oh no... my salary ran out and I ended up in debt," he wrote.
The doctor also questioned the requirement to use electronic payments in a market characterized by scarcity, informality, and many sellers' preference for cash. "Transfer? Where is that paid?" he asked.
Del Toro González concluded his reflection with a phrase that summarizes the failure of decades of official promises regarding the value of work in Cuba: "The utopia was always to think that we could live off our salaries."
The arithmetic of the doctor reveals the loss of purchasing power: the chicken and oil total 10,500 Cuban pesos, about 2,000 CUP more than the salary mentioned by the physician.
That bill still lacks the eggs, in addition to rice, beans, root vegetables, transport, hygiene products, and other monthly expenses. Simply put, the sum doesn't even cover a specialist doctor, a profession that is well-paid internationally in much of the world.
The figure of 8,500 CUP aligns with the new official scale for a first-degree specialist doctor working under a 44-hour weekly schedule.
The Resolution 17/2026 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security places this position in salary group XXI, which corresponds to 8,500 CUP for 44 hours or 7,730 CUP for 40 hours per week.
The new salary regulations came into effect on July 1 and were reflected in the payments made in August. The increase raised the base salary of first-grade specialists from 5,560 to 8,500 CUP, but it was quickly outpaced by food prices.
The price of chicken mentioned by Del Toro González aligns with recent offers for packages of ten pounds at 6,500 CUP when paid through a cashier and at 6,700 CUP in cash on the Isle of Youth. The product even reached over 7,000 pesos in that area.
The price of oil has also seen a rise. A recent report from Havana placed the price at 4,000 CUP per liter, with testimonies indicating prices of up to 5,000 in other areas of the country.
Eggs also do not provide relief. Reports published after the salary increase placed the carton of 30 units between 3,000 and 4,000 CUP, and even at 5,000 in certain localities.
Buying chicken, oil, and eggs could take up more than the entire base salary of a specialist.
The complaint adds to the testimonies of other professionals who have left the medical field because their income does not meet their families' needs.
A Cuban specialist with teaching credentials revealed in May that they stopped practicing after realizing that, even with more than five shifts per month, their salary did not reach 10,000 CUP.
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