In Havana’s William Soler Pediatric Hospital, doctors are treating critically ill children with makeshift formulas and generators while U.S. sanctions choke off essential supplies.
Key points
- U.S. sanctions have sharply reduced Cuba’s ability to import essential medical formulas and medicines, forcing hospitals to improvise with local ingredients.
- Frequent electricity outages and delayed generator start‑ups jeopardize critical care, leading staff to use cellphone lights and manual ventilation.
- Staff shortages and low pay drive many Cuban doctors to secondary jobs, while chronic shortages of drugs and equipment prolong treatment delays.
Doctors at William Soler Pediatric Hospital in Havana rushed a two‑month‑old baby, abandoned and severely malnourished, into intensive care, only to discover that the specialized formulas he needed are largely imported from the United States—a supply now hampered by tightened sanctions, CBS News reports.
Dr. Alejandro Chong, head of the ICU, said the hospital is forced to substitute commercial formulas with mixtures made from malanga, a starchy root, and chicken, a compromise that has become routine on every shift as new U.S. restrictions make it harder to import food and medical supplies, despite Washington’s claim that it does not intend to block humanitarian goods.
Improvised care for infants
Frequent power outages compound the crisis; a single generator kicks in after a brief blackout, a delay that can be fatal for patients on ventilators or under anesthesia. When generators fail, staff have resorted to using cellphone lights for surgery and manually pumping oxygen for ventilated patients, according to the doctors interviewed.
The staffing shortfall is equally stark. Many physicians have left the profession or the country, and those who remain, like Dr. Chong, supplement their income with side businesses—a food stand in his case—while resident Dr. Lórien Rodríguez works as a radio announcer to make ends meet.
Power failures jeopardize ICU
Supplies beyond formulas are critically low. Cancer drugs, anesthetics and laboratory equipment are in short supply, and a toddler waited 68 days for a component of an artificial lung machine that normally arrives in two days, highlighting the systemic shortages affecting even routine procedures.
The shortages are rooted in a decades‑long U.S. embargo that President Trump intensified by threatening sanctions on entities doing business with Cuba. Cuban deputy foreign minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío blames the United States for the worsening crisis, while U.S. officials argue that the embargo targets a mismanaged regime.
Sanctions tighten supply chains
Tragically, the infant treated by Dr. Chong later suffered respiratory complications and died after being readmitted to the ICU, underscoring the human toll of the supply and power crises that Cuban doctors continue to confront.
Reader questions
Why are medical supplies and infant formulas scarce in Cuban hospitals?
According to CBS News, tightened U.S. sanctions and the threat of penalties have discouraged foreign companies from selling food and medical products to Cuba, limiting imports that the health system traditionally relied on.
How are hospitals coping with frequent power cuts?
Doctors report that generators start only after a brief outage; during the gap they have used cellphone flashlights for illumination and manually pumped oxygen for patients on ventilators when equipment fails.
Source: cbsnews.com
