Dialysis Patients in Cuba at Risk as Fuel Crisis Halts Transport

Cuba’s energy crisis isn’t just turning off lights and grounding planes — it’s directly threatening the lives of thousands of patients who depend on life-sustaining medical treatments. Approximately 3,000 Cubans with chronic kidney failure face a desperate situation, according to reports from Martí Noticias and testimonies gathered by CubaNet.

No Fuel, No Ride, No Treatment

Dr. Abel Molina, whose wife — fellow physician Elaine Hernández — has required hemodialysis for the past year, described the situation bluntly: the medical taxis that transport these patients “have no fuel, they are stationary,” and many must arrive “by their own means.”

Meanwhile, he denounced that “they continue to sell gasoline in dollars” and that “government cars are still on the road.”

The human cost is immediate. Molina reported paying 2,000 pesos per trip to transport his wife, and that hemodialysis sessions are being conducted “every other day” — a pace nephrologists consider insufficient to keep patients stable.

The Gap Between Official Promises and Reality

Although authorities announced emergency measures assuring that essential services would remain unaffected, testimonies on the ground tell a different story.

“That’s a lie — there aren’t enough supplies or healthcare personnel,” Molina declared.

Havana’s “Dr. Abelardo Buch López” Nephrology Institute has suggested admitting patients to the facility when their drivers cannot guarantee transportation. But this improvised solution runs into the reality of hospitals already operating at their limits, as we reported on the MINSAP medical brigades.

A Crisis Within the Crisis

Hemodialysis is not optional treatment. Patients with chronic kidney failure need regular sessions — typically three times per week — to filter toxins their kidneys can no longer process. Every missed or delayed session increases the risk of:

• Hyperkalemia (excess potassium in blood, can cause cardiac arrest)
• Pulmonary edema (fluid buildup in the lungs)
• Uremic encephalopathy (brain toxicity)

With blackouts affecting 56% of the country and the Ñico López refinery recently catching fire, the electrical supply that dialysis machines require is far from guaranteed.

The Human Cost of the Energy Blockade

This crisis adds to the deterioration of Cuba’s healthcare system documented in recent weeks. Children with cancer already face survival rates dropping from 80% to 65%, and UN experts have condemned the fuel blockade as a form of collective punishment.

For Cuba’s 3,000 dialysis patients, the equation is simple and brutal: no fuel means no transport, no electricity means no machines, and no machines means no life.