Cubans turn to herbal remedies, barter amid medicine scarcity

Florencio Chavez sells herbs for medicine in downtown Havana, Cuba, March 30, 2021. Picture taken on March 30, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

HAVANA (Reuters) - Dayana Rodriguez says her son is overwhelmed with scabies but she has not been able to find any of the treatments prescribed by their doctor at the poorly-stocked pharmacies in Havana so she is now turning to a herbal remedy instead.

Even as Cuba is leading the race to become the first country in Latin America to develop its own COVID-19 vaccine, the country is suffering acute shortages of basic medicines amid its worst economic crisis in decades.