A Cuban family made a desperate plea this weekend to obtain intravenous paracetamol of 1,000 mg, the only medication that can stabilize an eight-year-old child hospitalized in critical condition at the Comandante Pinares Teaching General Hospital in San Cristóbal, Artemisa province.
The minor, whose identity has not been revealed, suffers from epilepsy and is trapped in a cycle of high fever and seizures that do not subside precisely because there is no way to reduce his body temperature without that medication.
"My family is going through a very difficult time. We have an eight-year-old child hospitalized in critical condition. He has epilepsy and is suffering from high fever and seizures. Since the fever won't go down, he can't escape the seizures. We urgently need to obtain intravenous paracetamol, as it is the only way he can receive it in his current situation," wrote Sureivy Torres, a relative of the child and the author of the post on Facebook.
The specific medication required by the child is “Paracetamol Normon 10 mg/ml solution for infusion,” an intravenous formulation that is essential when the patient cannot receive medication orally.
“If anyone has it or knows of a pharmacy, hospital, or somewhere we can get it, please write to me as soon as possible. We will pay whatever is necessary,” added Torres, who concluded his message with a phrase that captures the urgency: “Every minute counts.”
The case illustrates the pharmaceutical collapse that Cuba is experiencing. The Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, admitted before the National Assembly that only between 30% and 32% of the essential medication list was available in the country, while in provinces like Ciego de Ávila availability dropped to just 10%.
In April, there were 461 out of 651 essential medications missing from the national basic list, and in June, Biocubafarma acknowledged that it could not guarantee nearly 300 of the 395 drugs committed to the national health system.
Antiepileptic drugs are among the groups most affected. In July, Medicuba S.A. reported the retention of two containers of sodium valproate at the port of Cartagena, a critical antiepileptic medication for thousands of Cuban patients, including children.
Turning to social media as the only way to obtain medications that the healthcare system does not provide has become a recurring pattern.
In August, the mother of Rosmiel Jesús Sánchez Castillo, another eight-year-old boy with severe epileptic encephalopathy, publicly denounced the state abandonment and the lack of antiepileptics and basic supplies in Pinar del Río.
"We unfortunately live in a country that lacks resources, under the control of a government that only thinks of its own benefit, under a supposed medical power that is a lie," wrote Rosalba Castillo, mother of Rosmiel, in a post that went viral.
The U.S. Embassy in Havana warned this month that common medications such as paracetamol, ibuprofen, and antibiotics "are often in short supply" in Cuba, and advised travelers to bring their own supply.
The Comandante Pinares Hospital, where the child is currently hospitalized, is the largest healthcare center in Artemisa: it has 420 beds, 39 specialties, and 22 services, but like the rest of the Cuban hospitals, it operates amid a shortage of over 70% of the necessary medications.
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