Cuba’s healthcare system is facing mounting pressure as shortages of medicines, medical equipment, food and fuel disrupt hospital operations and leave doctors struggling to provide essential treatment. The crisis has intensified amid renewed US sanctions and restrictions on supplies entering the Caribbean island, raising concerns over the impact of Washington’s pressure campaign on ordinary Cubans.According to a report by CBS News’ 60 Minutes, doctors at William Soler Pediatric Hospital in Havana are struggling to treat patients amid severe shortages of essential supplies.The report highlighted the case of a two-month-old malnourished baby who required specialised infant formula that was difficult to obtain. Doctors had to rely on locally available alternatives, including preparations made from malanga, a starchy root vegetable, and chicken.The baby later developed respiratory complications, was readmitted to the intensive care unit and died on Thursday, CBS News reported, citing the hospital’s intensive care unit head, Dr Alejandro Chong.The situation reflects the growing strain on Cuba’s healthcare system, where shortages of essential medicines and equipment are compounding the difficulties faced by doctors and patients.Dr Lórien Rodríguez, a second-year paediatric surgery resident, said the lack of resources was making their work increasingly difficult.“There are fewer personnel, fewer resources, and it makes all the work we’re doing much more difficult,” she told CBS News, adding that doctors were often forced to tell patients they could not provide the treatment they needed.Cuba’s deputy foreign minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío acknowledged that the government also had a role in addressing the crisis, despite blaming US restrictions for worsening the country’s economic difficulties.“Every government has responsibility for their people,” he told CBS News, adding that the Cuban government had made decisions that could have been better.The healthcare crisis has been compounded by an acute energy shortage, with frequent power cuts disrupting hospital operations and putting patients dependent on life-support equipment at risk. Cuban doctors told CBS News that electricity failures had forced medical staff to complete surgeries using mobile phone flashlights. In some cases, when ventilators stopped working, doctors and nurses had to manually pump oxygen to keep patients alive.Cuban officials said the country had received only one oil tanker since early January, leaving it struggling to meet its fuel and electricity requirements.The US-Cuba conflict dates back to 1959, when Washington imposed economic restrictions following Fidel Castro’s revolution. The Trump administration has intensified pressure on Havana in 2026, targeting its oil supplies and threatening tariffs on countries supplying fuel to the island.The pressure increased after the US capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January, disrupting Cuba’s access to a key oil supplier.