A nurse from the Provincial Hospital of Santiago de Cuba resorted to fire in an attempt to eliminate a bedbug infestation in a chair, in a scene captured on video that is circulating on social media and summarizes the collapse of the healthcare system that Cuban health centers are experiencing.
The recording, shared by independent journalist Yosmany Mayeta Labrada, shows hospital workers discussing how to combat the insects using what they have on hand: direct fire on the furniture and a homemade mixture of baking soda and vinegar.
"Candela to the chair. Don't let that bitch out," one of the workers can be heard saying as she applies the flame.
Another employee explains the improvised method she plans to use during her next shift: "I'm going to bring my mix, baking soda and its ingredients, and I'm going to turn it over and add all of that."
On the mixture, he adds: "It removes it, suffocates because you can't stand the smell of that. And it burns. Baking soda with an acetic acid, which is vinegar."
The lack of professional fumigation and appropriate products forces healthcare personnel to improvise methods that, in any functional health system, would be unthinkable within a hospital setting.
The Saturnino Lora Provincial Hospital —the main hospital in Santiago de Cuba— has accumulated similar complaints for years.
In January 2025, bed bugs and cockroaches roamed over the patients' beds; months later, in November, images of their bathrooms revealed leaks, broken pipes, mold, and accumulated feces.
In April 2026, a fire in the intermediate care area forced the evacuation of 12 patients.
The Juan Bruno Zayas Alfonso Hospital, also in Santiago, is not exempt from the crisis: in January 2026, there were reports of sewage flowing under patients' beds, and in July new images revealed rusty toilets without lids and medical waste mixed without any biosecurity protocols.
The bedbug infestation is not exclusive to Santiago. In June, the Maternal Hospital of Matanzas was reported for an infestation posing a risk to pregnant women and newborns.
In July, a mother recorded cockroaches at the Juan Manuel Márquez Pediatric Hospital in Havana, in a video that exceeded 72,000 views. Authorities in Antilla, Holguín, acknowledged in April that the infestation had been active on a national scale for at least two years.
The backdrop is that of a healthcare system in free fall: only 30% of the essential medication list is available in the country, with 461 out of 651 drugs out of stock.
Infant mortality has doubled since 2018, rising from 4.0 to 9.9 per 1,000 live births. Hospitals are also operating with daily blackouts of up to 20 hours, which compromise intensive care units and the preservation of medications.
In that context, workers and patients' families improvise solutions with fire, baking soda, and vinegar because the state does not provide even the most basic supplies to ensure minimal hygiene conditions.
A user summed it up in a comment that went viral: "Cubans have been normalizing everything for 67 years. How much longer?"
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