A Cuban woman with hormone-type breast cancer posted a video on Instagram asking for help to obtain Zoladex (goserelin 3.6 mg), the medication that her oncologist prescribed as part of a five-year treatment plan, which is not available in Cuban hospitals.
"I come to ask for your help with my heart in my hands. If you don't know, I am a cancer patient; I underwent chemotherapy and had my bilateral mastectomy," said Madai, the Cuban identified on social media as @la_muchacha_de_los_rizos_vlogs.
The patient explained that the results of her biopsy brought both good and bad news at the same time: "The good news is that the cancer is already out of my body and that everything is fine. And the bad news is that in order for everything to stay fine, I need treatment."
That treatment depends on a drug that is not produced in Cuba and whose regular importation the country cannot sustain.
You need at least 12 bulbs—one per month—to complete the first year of the five years that the hormone therapy prescribed by your doctor lasts.
The patient clarified that the Zoladex she requires is specifically the 3.6 mg: "There is another one that is 10.6, but that one is of no use to me," she specified in the description of her post.
When consulting with her doctor about the possibility of being transferred to another hospital where supplies were available, she received a response that summarizes the logic of shortages in Cuba: "What happens with those medications is that sometimes they come in through a donation and are stored at the administrative level for patients who need them at that moment, and then there are none left."
Madai, an afro hair stylist who documents her journey with the illness on her social media, raises donations through PayPal, but the funds collected so far are not enough to cover even the first year of treatment, as she acknowledged in the video: "That doesn't even cover the cost of a year's treatment if I manage to get the medicine."
Zoladex is a brand-name medication manufactured by AstraZeneca that is administered subcutaneously every 28 days and is indicated for hormone-dependent breast cancer in pre- and perimenopausal women, as it suppresses ovarian function and lowers estrogen levels. Its price abroad varies from approximately 96 dollars per unit in international pharmacies to over 240 euros in Europe.
The case is not isolated. At the end of August, the family of Dalía Cuevas Leblanc, a 31-year-old woman from Santiago de Cuba, also turned to social media to request chemotherapy medications that the oncology hospital was unable to provide.
This pattern is increasingly repeated in 2026, within the context of a health collapse that the regime itself has partially acknowledged. Díaz-Canel admitted in August that only 30% of the basic medicine supply is available in Cuba.
BioCubaFarma, the state-owned pharmaceutical company, acknowledged that it cannot guarantee nearly 300 of the 395 medications promised to the national health system.
According to data from 2026, approximately 117,000 adults and 1,200 children with cancer in Cuba lack adequate primary treatments, while the National Oncology Institute reported since February that the shortage of chemotherapy is forcing modifications to protocols and adjustments to dosages.
In light of all this, the patient concluded her call with a phrase that captures the urgency of her situation: "I would appreciate it if you could let me know if you know anyone or anything that could help me. It's about my life."
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