Havana Cuba. – The lack of medical supplies in Cuba is permanent. Many times doctors are prevented from prescribing the most effective drugs because they know that there are none in the pharmacy.
On the Island the miracle of the loaves and the fish is fulfilled. That is why it is not strange that, despite the shortage of medicines, doctors and resources to work in health centers, the directors of the Ministry of Health are determined to declare that each year concludes with better indicators.
“Last year, the lack of medicines hit bottom, and this year it started just the same,” says a neighbor who went to buy the medications for his chronic heart disease, and three, found only one. He complains that he has had to go to the black market – cheaper than the international pharmacy in CUC -, otherwise, he would be “on the other side”.
Few ignore that medicines are one of the main export items in the country. But what is a secret is where the money obtained by that concept goes, because for more than ten years, leaders of the Medicines sector of the Ministry of Public Health have reported through the media to be working to strengthen the industry Pharmaceutical, however, this sensitive sector does not escape government abandonment.
There are 13,000 health institutions and more than 94,000 doctors on the Island, for a rate of 8.2 per thousand inhabitants, although in practice this is not true, given the large number of doctors that the government has rented in others countries In addition, these figures are of little use if there are hardly any medicines, and the patients are victims of the lack of ethics of the remaining medical staff, of mistreatment, apathy and deterioration of the facilities and furniture.
Last week, Eneyda, an 84-year-old lady residing in a nursing home in Central Havana, was admitted to the General Freyre Surgical Clinic hospital in Andrade (Emergencies) with pulmonary edema and coronary insufficiency. As the morning was very cold, he asked the cleaning assistant how to get hot water to bathe. The aforementioned, turning her back, mocked mockingly: “Hey pa’ that, hot water wants the lady. ” This and other forms of mistreatment of health personnel are heard quite frequently. Some believed that increasing wages would improve treatment and patient care, but things continue from bad to worse. That is why the most skeptical consider that the serious crisis of Cuban public health needs much more than a salary increase to be solved.
The media show as an example of dedication and professionalism to the personnel that fulfill internationalist missions. The population says that it is because of the very incentive they receive at CUC. If we consider, in addition, the masquerade that the government receives for each of them, it is logical that they control them to guarantee the quality of the service. And as these workers do not want to miss the opportunity to carry out their life project, they work hard to remain hired.
The lack of medical supplies is permanent in polyclinics and medical posts. It has been more than a year since a young neighbor has painful abscesses (cysts) that require antibiotics and surgery. Given the persistence of these, the doctor sent him an exudate, but they could not do it because there was no reagent. Meanwhile, to cure it, you must take the material to the polyclinic, because “there is nothing there,” says the mother.
Many times doctors are prevented from prescribing the most effective medications because they know that there are none in the pharmacy. Then they choose to give the patient alternatives, as happened to Yolanda, intoxicated by an antibiotic that was put in the polyclinic. He says that when the nurse finished burning his warts, he put his finger in a pot and smeared an ointment with no other explanation than “It’s an antibiotic.” Upon arriving home, Yolanda had reddened and swollen skin, and felt punctures and chills. The doctor diagnosed an allergic reaction and gave him a list of antihistamine tablets and steroid creams, in case he had any of them, because there were none in the pharmacy.
Frequently the newspaper Granma, official organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (PCC), publishes some notes (“Your health service is free, but how much does it cost?”) In which they state the cost of the procedures . Also in the health centers there are posters with this type of degrading and humiliating propaganda, which creates anguish and uncertainty in the population for fear of losing these services.
There are two widely used phrases that summarize the dehumanization of the “free” Cuban health system. When a doctor says: “There is nothing more to do,” and that the population synthesizes as: “He was sent to die for the house.” And it is that a terminal illness translates into agony for the patient and their relatives, since there are no centers specializing in palliative care for the population.
If you have relatives in Cuba share with them the following link (download Psiphon), the VPN through which they will have access to all the information of CubaNet. You can also subscribe to our Newsletter by giving click here.
–
