Cuba is struggling to keep its hospitals open as the island faces regular blackouts and acute fuel shortages amid US measures aimed at restricting oil supplies to the country, reports the British Medical Journal (BMJ).
US sanctions on Cuba have also caused shortages of food, water, medical equipment and medicines in what was recognised as one of the best health systems in the Global South.
The BMJ laid responsibility for the crisis on the Trump administration’s targeting of fuel shipments to Cuba, including penalties for countries that supply oil.
“The lack of oil is causing daily power outages in cities and towns across the island with healthcare professionals reporting that hospitals are unable to keep their lights on and doctors cannot perform basic scans such as x-rays or ultrasounds,” it said.
In June 2026, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk cited data indicating that infant mortality in Cuba had nearly doubled in recent months.
Former ACTU official Don Sutherland recently visited Cuba’s National Cardio-Paediatric Centre, which is supported by the Cuban Children’s Hospital Fund Australia.
The Fund is supervised by the Australian union movement’s international aid arm, Union Aid Abroad – APHEDA.
“The whole world had to live through COVID but only Cuba is living through a blockade like this,” a nurse at the centre told Sutherland.
Despite the worsening shortages, healthcare staff have done more ops this year than last year, she said. “It has forced us to do more with less because what we cannot do is let children die. We have highly qualified staff who want to save lives but don’t have the means.”
More information
Cuban nurses speak out – https://tinyurl.com/566f9uma
Visit the Cuban Children’s Hospital Fund – Australia: https://www.facebook.com/Cubanchildren/