The eastern provinces of Santiago de Cuba and Guantánamo accounted for half of the 124 new cases of leprosy reported in Cuba during 2025, according to preliminary data from the 2025 Health Statistical Yearbook of MINSAP, published in late October 2026.
Santiago de Cuba reported 40 new cases, with a rate of 4.2 per 100,000 inhabitants, while Guantánamo added 22, with a rate of 4.8 per 100,000. These provinces accounted for 62 diagnoses of the 124 recorded nationwide, where the average rate was 1.3 per 100,000 inhabitants.
A notable piece of information is about the Isla de la Juventud: with only four cases, it recorded the highest rate in the country, 5.5 per 100,000 inhabitants, surpassing the two eastern provinces with the largest absolute numbers.
Havana had 9 cases (rate 0.5). Villa Clara and Cienfuegos were the only provinces that did not report any cases in 2025.
Of the national total, 113 cases were multibacillary (91.1%) and 11 were paucibacillary (8.9%). In Santiago de Cuba, all 40 diagnoses corresponded to the multibacillary form; in Guantánamo, 20 out of 22 were also of that form.
The multibacillary form involves a greater bacterial load and requires a longer treatment — 12 months compared to six for the paucibacillary form — although in both cases the disease is no longer transmissible from the first doses of treatment.
Doctor Raisa Rumbaut Castillo, head of the National Leprosy Program of MINSAP, explained on Canal Caribe that the disease should not cause social panic.
"Contrary to what the public believes, leprosy is not a highly contagious disease. It requires close, prolonged, in-home contact for the transmission of the disease. It is not transmitted through kissing, hugging, or touching a person," he stated.
The specialist detailed the early signs that should prompt a medical consultation: spots on the skin that are light or reddish in color with loss of sensitivity, numbness or tingling, and reduced muscle strength in the hands and feet.
Early diagnosis is crucial because leprosy, without treatment, can lead to permanent disabilities by affecting the peripheral nervous system.
"It is important to detect it in time due to the impact it has on the peripheral nervous system, which is what can lead to the disability that people fear so much," emphasized Rumbaut Castillo.
The treatment—a combination of rifampicin, dapsone, and clofazimine—is donated annually by the World Health Organization and is provided free of charge in Cuba.
The island eliminated leprosy as a public health problem in 1993, when the prevalence dropped below the threshold of one case per 10,000 inhabitants, but it has never stopped reporting new diagnoses each year: about 200 annual cases before the pandemic, 81 in 2021, 140 in 2022, and 123 in 2023.
Dr. Rumbaut Castillo urged the public to support those who receive the diagnosis without stigmatizing them.
"A leprosy patient can be the love of someone's life. Therefore, they should be treated with all the respect they deserve, and we must keep in mind the three truths about leprosy: that leprosy is curable, that it is no longer contagious after the first doses of treatment, and that the patient should not be discriminated against, but rather supported."
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