Cubans Skeptical of Pediatric Hospital Cleaning Effort: "What Comes Next?"

Two videos shared on Facebook showcase a cleaning event at a Cuban pediatric hospital, sparking a wave of criticism as online users label the initiative as mere propaganda lacking real solutions.

The videos were posted by Dr. Jorge Pichardo, who described them as "a revolution of love and action" and an effort to "offer care where we are most needed."

In the first clip, a voice expresses gratitude for "the effort to clean the ward"; in the second, a participating parent praises the involvement of the University of Medical Sciences staff and other government entities, calling the task "commendable."

The response from netizens was largely sarcastic and harsh.

"What comes next?" one questioned. "Nothing, it was done just for that day to record, after that, it becomes filthy again," another commented, summarizing the general sentiment.

"The same hungry, sweaty, filthy workers are forced to clean the garbage dump called a hospital. They have no respect," another user declared.

Others pointed directly to the structural lack of personnel: "Where is the cleaning staff? Only in Cuba is it newsworthy to clean a hospital."

A more detailed comment addressed the core of the issue: "If hospital cleaning aides were paid a fair wage, there wouldn't be a need to upload a video of cleaning a hospital as a civic act of altruism… pay wages that are consistent with prices (they can't, because the state sector is dollarized) and the dollars go to the ruling elite."

This statement is not exaggerated. The average salary in Cuba has lost 20% of its value in the past year, hovering around 6,930 CUP monthly, equivalent to about $12.60 at informal exchange rates. A hospital cleaning aide might earn only 2,800 CUP, while a basic basket for two people in Havana exceeds 41,000 CUP per month.

This wage gap explains the massive exodus of workers from the state sector, leaving hospitals without adequate cleaning staff. In November 2024, a small business even offered up to 20,000 CUP to hire hospital cleaning personnel, highlighting the shortage.

Historically, the government has responded with sporadic mobilization operations that serve a propagandistic purpose but fail to address structural issues.

Even Díaz-Canel acknowledged in October, after removing over 35,000 cubic meters of garbage in Havana during a weekend operation, that "there is no sustainable plan" to maintain cleanliness.

Accustomed to such patterns, netizens were not convinced. "That's communist propaganda, and by now, no one believes it. Tomorrow the garbage will be back in the halls," another commenter wrote. "Pure circus," concluded a third.

The statement that best encapsulates the state of Cuban hospitals, likened to war conditions, was bluntly put by another user: "Cleanliness has nothing to do with the embargo, and that's the state of all Cuba."

The decline in hygiene in Cuban pediatric centers is a documented trend.

In May 2025, reports surfaced of cockroaches, stagnant urine, and dirty utensils at the Eduardo Agramonte Piña Pediatric Hospital in Camagüey. In Santiago de Cuba, mothers reported filthy bathrooms and bedbug infestations in November of the same year.

This past February, the Eliseo Noel Caamaño Pediatric Hospital in Matanzas was criticized for deplorable conditions in its bathrooms and on its floors.