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Health Care in Cuba, The two faces of a
myth.
Hospital only for Cubans. Photo courtesy of Realcuba.com
BARACOA, CUBA- March 30, 2007 (Professor
Julián Antonio Mone Borrego/Puenteinfocubamiami.org) - The general condition
of hospitals that provide medical services strictly for the Cuban people are
deplorable.
SANTA CLARA
Santa Clara's provincial Hospital has been invaded by a plague of
cockroaches that contaminate utensils, foods and medical material.
The poor elaboration of foods, along with the unsanitary conditions heaped
up the critical conditions of this hospital.
CIEGO DE ÁVILA
Emergency room of hospital only for Cubans. Photo courtesy of
Realcuba.com
Hospitals "Antonio Luaces Iraola" and the
"Hospital General Docente "Roberto Rodriguez", both located in the province
of Ciego de Ávila, are lacking first aid medical tools, supplies and
equipment such as anesthesia, needles, syringes and aerosol mouthpieces.
Resulting in the delay of urgent surgical procedures and ultimately, forcing
the suspension of all surgical procedures.
The waiting list for patients in need of medical procedures is endless.
Improper protocol for sterilization of syringes and other hospital
instruments along with the reuse of syringes and other medical tools without
prior sterilization, expose hospital patients to contracting contagious
diseases.
CAMAGÜEY
Provincial hospitals Manuel Artime Domenech, Amalia Simoni, and "Ana
Betancourt" a maternal and neonatal hospital, in the province of Camagüey,
lack the necessary resources for laboratory tests, including for Alpha-fetoprotein
test, diabetes, thyroid and renal operation tests.
Irregularities and abuses against pregnant women pose serious mortal danger
to mother and child during the pregnancy and during childbirth.
LAS TUNAS
In the provincial hospital “Ernesto Guevara" of Las Tunas, patients remain
in a depressed and erosive atmosphere due to the prevailing poor health and
unsanitary conditions of the health installation. The ceiling’s facility is
filled with all kinds of animal’s nests.
HOLGUÍN
There are frequent and prolonged power blackouts in the hospital Juan Paz
Camejo, located in the municipality of Sagua de Tánamo, forcing patients and
doctors to use petroleum lamps where fumes coming out of these devices cause
breathing disorders to patients.
The above brief synthesis is just a sample of the daily deterioration of the
health care facilities that cater only to ordinary Cubans.
Added to the above mentioned calamities is the lack of ambulances, the
frustration of doctors and paramedic personnel whose demands for supplies is
ignored by authorities in the health care system toppled by a huge amount of
paperwork, long shifts, poor diet and low wages exacerbated the daily misery
of the medical staff working in these facilities.
Medical
treatment only for Cubans. Photo a
courtesy of NetForCuba.org
Let us distinguish the other face of the Cuban medical myth, revealed by
Viñales Tours; one of many Cuban entities dedicated to the deliberate
establishment of a kind of "medical apartheid” that consists of the creation
of a health tourism industry and according to their promoters, the Cuban
Health Care System is based on the principle that health care in Cuba is “a
right of the people”. They obviously forgot to clarify which kind of people
they were referring to.
Medical services only for tourists. Photo courtesy
of Realcuba.com
Upon the creation of this health tourism industry, the Cuban regime
customized medical units exclusively for tourists in each of the hotels that
are part of the above mentioned tourism chain, where emergency medical care
is offered twenty four hours, seven days a week.
International pharmacies are promoted as having an array supply of both
foreign and Cuban-manufactured medicines and high-tech medical equipment and
services items not available to most Cubans. It would be interesting if the
Cuban government is willing to provide records of what percentage of these
products are available to the ordinary Cuban population.
Reporting from Baracoa for the Information Bridge Cuba Miami, Julián
Antonio Mone Borrego, professor and president of the Miguel Valdés Tamayo
Cuban Movement. Given with the collaboration of Plantados Hasta la Libertad
y la Democracia en Cuba, on the 24th day of March, 2007.
* Additional Information:
Pictures related to hospitals and health centers in Cuba :
http://espanol.netforcuba.org/Enfoque/0035-SaludPublica-Cuba.htm
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