Patients on hemodialysis report critical shortages amid Cuba’s energy and health crisis

Reporters and patients told Radio Martí on Feb. 13 that Cuba’s energy shortages have compounded long-standing deficits in medical supplies and transport for people who need hemodialysis.

A physician cited in the program, Dr. Abel Molina, described his wife’s repeated trips from La Lisa to the Hospital Militar Carlos J. Finlay in Marianao for dialysis and said the clinics lack sufficient consumables. The broadcast relayed accounts that machines operate with maintenance failures and that staff shortages and inadequate sanitation increase infection risk for patients kept in hospital longer than necessary.

The program cited official-press reports placing roughly 3,000 chronic renal patients at high risk because of the combined effect of power cuts and lack of essential supplies. A patient quoted in the report said she had to pay about 2,000 pesos each way for transport to treatment; broadcasters described erratic transport schedules that force some patients to miss or alternate dialysis sessions.

A nurse identified in the report in Santiago de Cuba, Luisa Ilisastegui, said patients admitted for dialysis are more vulnerable to infections when hospital nutrition and basic dressings are not available. The broadcast included testimony from an unnamed patient in Holguín who asked not to be identified and from family members describing long trips to specialized centers.

The program noted officials had announced restrictive energy measures earlier in the month and that authorities had said essential services would be spared; the patients and medical staff interviewed told Radio Martí that, in practice, dialysis and related services have been disrupted.

Next steps and context: the report did not include an on-air statement from the Ministry of Public Health or specific mitigation timetables; it relied on patient testimony and press reporting for the 3,000-patient figure.