Help Sought for Critically Ill Two-Month-Old Baby: Urgent Need for Unavailable Antibiotic in Cuba

On Saturday, Cuban dissident José Daniel Ferrer made an urgent appeal on social media to save the life of a critically ill baby girl in Cuba who is in desperate need of an antibiotic that is unavailable in the country.

Ferrer, who leads the Patriotic Union of Cuba (UNPACU), shared the plea on his X account, warning that the infant's life is at risk if the medication is not acquired promptly.

"A baby under 2 months old could die due to the lack of an antibiotic in Cuba. Let's save this newborn. Anyone who can help get the medicine here as soon as possible, please contact me at +1 305 970 8858. Thank you," Ferrer posted.

While the plea did not specify the name of the antibiotic, those able to assist in coordinating its delivery are encouraged to reach out to Ferrer directly at the provided contact number.

Critical Condition and Desperate Measures

In a video shared by Ferrer, the baby's grandmother explains that the child is in critical condition with an uncertain prognosis in the intensive care unit of the Carlos Manuel de Céspedes Provincial Hospital in Bayamo, after contracting a bacterial infection during her hospital stay.

The grandmother noted that the medical staff has done "everything possible" to save her, but the absence of the antibiotic Aztreonam in Cuba has prevented the infection from being treated effectively.

The infant is currently on assisted ventilation and undergoing numerous invasive procedures, with her survival hinging on the rapid acquisition of this crucial medication.

Escalating Health Crisis in Cuba

The family, described as being of humble means, is urgently seeking help from abroad to obtain the drug and have it brought to the island by travelers in the coming days. They affirm that the medication is unavailable not only in Bayamo but throughout the country.

This situation is not an isolated incident. A severe shortage of antibiotics for newborns and infants has become a deadly and recurring problem in Cuba.

In January 2023, eight newborns died from sepsis at the Diez de Octubre Obstetric Hospital in Havana within just 16 days.

During the same period, a Cuban doctor publicly sought help for her newborn daughter who also needed Aztreonam, a broad-spectrum antibiotic, which was similarly unavailable.

The situation has not improved. By February 2026, Dr. Liliam Delgado Peruyera from Havana's main maternity hospital reported the death of three newborns in a single month, the highest monthly toll she had witnessed.

Pediatric hospitals in Santiago de Cuba, Matanzas, and Camagüey were similarly criticized that month by families highlighting the scarcity of basic medications, including antipyretics and antibiotics.

Systemic Health Care Failures

Cuba's healthcare system currently operates with just 30% of its essential medication inventory available.

The infant mortality rate closed 2025 at 9.9 per 1,000 live births, nearly triple the 3.9 recorded in 2018, according to official data from the Ministry of Public Health published in January 2026.

Havana has the highest rate in the nation, with 14 per 1,000 live births.

Nationwide, over 11,193 children are on surgical waiting lists, part of a broader list of 96,387 patients.

Frequent power outages, lasting up to twenty hours a day, worsen the situation by affecting medical equipment, vaccine cold chains, and ambulance operations.

In March 2026, the World Health Organization's director-general deemed Cuba's health situation profoundly concerning, while the United Nations seeks urgent solutions to the island's healthcare collapse.

The growing reliance on social media to source medications for sick children has become common in Cuba, with documented cases dating back to 2020.

Each social media post represents a family facing a crisis alone, a direct consequence of 67 years of communist dictatorship and the collapse of a healthcare system once touted by the regime as one of its major achievements.