Medicines seized in Havana as Cubans ask: where do we buy them now?

The seizure of medicines resold at high prices in Central Havana prompted questions on social media. Amid shortages at state pharmacies, Cubans asked where they could obtain the treatments they need.

Central Havana’s Municipal Assembly said authorities carried out seizures as part of enforcement against resale and excessive prices. The notice did not specify how many products were confiscated, where they came from or what would happen to them.

Users responding to the announcement asked whether the medicines would be made available to the public and at which pharmacy they could be found. Others questioned how so many drugs reach the informal market while state pharmacies lack them.

One commenter said she had been unable to obtain her blood-pressure medication for some time. Another said that during a severe episode of back pain, she had to take a vial of diclofenac to a health center because it did not have the drug. Those accounts express concern about access to treatment but do not establish the destination of the seized products.