Cubans turn to free community pharmacies as medicines grow scarce

HAVANA (AP) — Every Thursday and Sunday at noon, dozens of people gather outside an apartment building in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood. Laura Mendoza comes downstairs, checks their names against a list and hands out medicine they requested through WhatsApp.

Antihistamines, diuretics, eye drops and antibiotics are among the drugs she distributes. She charges nothing.

Projects like Mendoza’s, called “Medicine Is Not for Sale,” have become a lifeline for Cubans struggling to find increasingly scarce medications as the country’s economic crisis deepens, compounded by U.S. energy and financial restrictions imposed since January.

Online sellers, street vendors and WhatsApp and Telegram groups have also stepped in to fill gaps left by state pharmacies, which for decades were the main source of subsidized medicines.

The shortages have become so severe that Cuban authorities issued regulations in July allowing private pharmacies to operate — a historic change to the country’s state-run health system and part of broader economic reforms.

Until those pharmacies open, projects like Mendoza’s provide a lifeline.

“We have five WhatsApp groups in Havana and recently added one in Guanabo,” said Mendoza, who estimates that about 100 similar community projects operate in Havana.

Working with the Catholic charity Caritas, her initiative receives more than 13 kilograms (29 pounds) of medicine each week from humanitarian groups in Canada and the United States, travelers carrying donations and local residents.

“People don’t just rely on this main pharmacy. They help each other,” Mendoza said, standing beside shelves of medicine in her apartment.

Volunteers sometimes deliver medicine to patients who cannot collect it themselves. But drugs requiring refrigeration, including some diabetes medications, and cancer treatments are particularly difficult to obtain. Patients also seek gauze, syringes and anesthetics for use in poorly supplied hospitals.

“Six or seven years ago, it was relatively easy to find medicines at state pharmacies,” said Cristina Díaz, a 27-year-old physics teacher who came to Mendoza’s project seeking clonazepam for a relative.

As shortages worsened, “medicines became much harder to find,” she said.

Cuba’s Health Ministry lists 603 medicines in its basic drug program, but only slightly more than one-third are currently available. About 400 are produced by Cuban laboratories using imported raw materials.

Mayda Mauri Pérez, president of the state pharmaceutical company BioCubaFarma, said in June that about 300 of the 395 medicines the company was expected to supply had not been produced because of shortages of imported materials.

The situation is particularly acute in the central province of Ciego de Ávila, where authorities recently acknowledged that state pharmacies had only about 10% of the medicines on the basic list. Officials blamed supply and logistical problems, including fuel shortages.

“Cuba has a medical-pharmaceutical industry that we consider strong,” María Fernández Martínez, head of the province’s pharmacy company, told the official newspaper Granma. But without supplies, “not even the most capable factory can complete the cycle.”

The government also struggles to obtain packaging such as blister packs and bottles and says U.S. financial sanctions complicate payments for imports. Cuban authorities say shipments of medical supplies have also been stranded in third countries because shipping companies fear U.S. penalties for calling at Cuban ports.

Allowing private pharmacies is part of a package of 176 economic measures approved by Cuba’s Parliament in June to expand private enterprise and help address the country’s economic crisis.

The government hopes entrepreneurs can import medicines, as private businesses already do with food and fuel. Authorities say they are reviewing about 36 proposals to open private pharmacies, while state pharmacies will continue to operate.

Private pharmacies will be regulated by the government and barred from selling hospital-only drugs and certain controlled substances. Imports will have to go through state companies, while medicines will require regulatory approval and proper storage.

The Cuban government did not respond to a request for comment.

For many Cubans, however, another question remains unanswered: Will they be able to afford the medicine?

Sara Márquez, 69, takes medication to control her blood pressure. She said a blister pack once cost 0.30 Cuban pesos at state-run pharmacies. In recent months, informal sellers have charged as much as 1,000 pesos ($1.50) for the same amount — more than 30% of her monthly pension.

“At what price will they sell the medicine? ... It will depend on people’s purchasing power. I can’t afford it.”

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A poster of Fidel Castro hangs on the wall, flanked by empty shelves, at a state-run pharmacy in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Silvia Perez, a volunteer with the "Medicine Is Not for Sale" community project, carries medicine for free distribution in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Silvia Perez, a volunteer with the "Medicine Is Not for Sale" community project, prepares medicine for free distribution in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Oct. 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Laura Mendoza, who runs the “Medicine Is Not for Sale” community project, stands in front of a shelf stocked with medicine donated by humanitarian groups for free distribution in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

A woman receives medicine distributed through the “Medicine Is Not for Sale” community project in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday declared a state of emergency in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan and suspended its government, which is led by imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, ahead of a planned march on Islamabad by supporters demanding his release.

Zardari acted on the recommendation of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s Cabinet, according to a statement from the president’s office. The measures place the province under the authority of the governor, who represents the federal government.

The announcement came hours after Sharif’s office said that the federal Cabinet had recommended emergency rule, accusing the provincial government of “deliberate disengagement from the fight against terrorism.”

No protests were reported against the suspension of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s government, where police detained several supporters of Khan’s PTI party overnight. Authorities deployed additional police and security forces in the province and Islamabad to prevent unrest.

Shipping containers placed by police along key routes in Islamabad since last month to block potential rallies have disrupted traffic and forced residents in the capital and neighboring Rawalpindi to take lengthy detours.

Khan’s spokesperson, Zulfiquar Bukhari, condemned the suspension of the provincial government, calling it a disguised coup. He said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was the only one with a genuine popular mandate following the February 2024 parliamentary elections, which Khan’s party says were rigged.

“Now that little bit of democracy is also gone,” Bukhari said in a statement.

Referring to recent talks between Khan’s party and the federal government, Bukhari accused officials of having no intention of reaching an agreement. He said government representatives had focused on counterterrorism, while Khan’s representatives had come to discuss the imprisoned leader’s basic human rights.

Khan is Sharif’s main political rival and has been imprisoned since 2023 on corruption and other charges that he and his party say are politically motivated. Despite his imprisonment, he retains a substantial and passionate support base, keeping him at the center of Pakistan’s turbulent political landscape.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, or PTI, and the federal government last week held talks to postpone the march but failed to reach a resolution. Gohar Khan, the party’s chairman, said days ago that negotiations remained deadlocked after two rounds.

Beside Khan’s release, Khan's party demanded his transfer to a hospital and permission for his family to visit him. Sharif's government has said Khan is in good health and receives regular family visits but maintains that meetings with the imprisoned former leader cannot be used for political purposes.

The province’s chief minister, Sohail Afridi, on Saturday urged supporters to prepare to march on Islamabad. Afridi launched the protest campaign last week, leading marches through several districts in the province.

Sharif’s government has been urging Afridi since last month to postpone the march, citing a surge in attacks by the Pakistani Taliban in the northwest. It has also accused Khan’s party of sympathizing with the militant group, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Khan's party said Afridi and his former Cabinet members had been detained.

Political analyst Azeem Chaudhry said the emergency measures gave Gov. Faisal Karim Kundi the powers of the provincial chief executive, removing Khan’s party from power in the only province it governed. He said the provincial assembly and Afridi’s Cabinet were also suspended.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent years, much of it blamed on the TTP, a separate group but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021. Islamabad has repeatedly accused Afghanistan's Taliban government of providing sanctuary to TTP militants, an allegation Kabul denies.

A road barricaded with shipping containers by authorities is seen ahead of a protest by the supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan demanding his release, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zubair)

Police officers stand guard at a road barricaded with shipping containers by authorities ahead of a protest by the supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan demanding his release, in Peshawar, Pakistan. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zubair)

A police officer stands guard at a road barricaded with shipping containers by authorities ahead of a protest by the supporters of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan demanding his release, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zubair)