UNITED NATIONS (CMC)–Senior United Nations officials warned on Friday that blackouts and shortages are disrupting healthcare in Cuba.

Edem Wosornu of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Altaf Musani of the World Health Organization (WHO), told reporters in New York via video link that hospitals across Cuba are suspending surgeries, struggling to keep lifesaving equipment running and facing severe medicine shortages as blackouts and fuel shortages push the Spanish-speaking country’s healthcare system deeper into crisis.

They said shortages of electricity, fuel, medicine and medical supplies are “severely disrupting” emergency care, blood banks, laboratories, immunisation programmes and maternal and child health services.