MIAMI, United States. – Cuban patients dependent on hemodialysis and their families reported that the paralysis of medical transportation due to fuel shortages, together with electrical instability and the lack of medical supplies, is putting the lives of thousands of people with chronic kidney failure on the island at risk, according to a report published by Martí News and testimonies collected by CubaNet.
Although on February 6 the authorities announced a plan of restrictive measures in the face of the energy crisis that included the health sector and assured that essential services would not be affected, several interviewed by Martí News They indicated that the reality is different.
“The Ministry of Public Health He said that everything was insured and that is not the case,” declared Dr. Abel Molina, whose wife, also Dr. Elaine Hernández, has required hemodialysis for a year. “The taxis that take these patients do not have fuel, they are stopped. However, there are buses from some work centers that are not prioritized services, just like the tourist taxis, which are working and the hemodialysis patients have to go by their own means. What the Government says is that there is no transportation until further notice, but they continue to sell gasoline in dollars. The Government’s cars, the military’s cars, continue to roll.”
The health authorities reported through official media that the admission of patients for hemodialysis is guaranteed. However, Molina himself assured: “That is a lie, there are not enough supplies or health personnel. In fact, today [viernes 13 de febrero] I had to pay for transportation, which they charged me 2,000 pesos for there and 2,000 pesos for here, and the hemodialysis is done every other day.”
According to official data, nearly 3,000 patients with chronic kidney failure would be at high risk due to the impact of electrical outages and the shortage of health materials.
CubaNet received screenshots of the messages sent by a doctor from the “Dr. Abelardo Buch López” Nephrology Institute in Havana – in a WhatsApp group – to patients who depend on hemodialysis and their families. “For patients whose drivers cannot provide transportation coverage, the alternative the center has is to grant admission,” indicates the message from the doctor, whose identity is reserved to avoid reprisals to those involved.
In the same exchange it is added: “We are clear about all the pros and cons, but the medical and nursing team continues to fight for his health.”
Dr. Luisa Ilizástegui, resident in Santiago de Cuba, explained to Martí News that prolonged hospitalization increases the risks for these patients: “It is known that the longer patients are hospitalized, the greater the risk of contracting infections, and without taking into account the lack of dressing material, that there is no gauze, there is no paper to sterilize the instruments, etc.”
Molina also warned about the lack of specific supplies: “Sometimes there are no capillaries, which are the filters that are placed on the patient, and the patient does not clean himself and most of the medications and supplies have to be bought on the street. There is no iron to put in them, they have problems with blood transfusions because there is no blood.”
Added to the material deficiencies is the poor hospital nutrition. “The food is terrible. They have to depend a lot on their families to bring their food to the hospitals,” said Ilizástegui.
For his part, Molina underlined the seriousness of the scenario: “My wife and I are two doctors and we know the complications; if the patient does not undergo hemodialysis in a week, he will die. People are going to drop like flies, it is a genocide because you have no medicine, you have no food, you have no light.”
