September 07, 2007
A Frank Conversation Concerning Cuban Healthcare
Relaxing on the waterfront with an old friend who happens to work as a doctor near the Havana suburb of Cojimar one day, I posed a simple question: Can you tell me the truth about Cuba’s healthcare system?
Nestor is a 37-year-old doctor who has already been dispatched to Venezuela twice in recent years. He describes the system in which Cuban doctors are sent off to impoverished foreign nations as voluntary, although doctors are not permitted to select where they’ll be sent. As an example, Nestor currently fears being dispatched to Africa for his next mission. Being unable to speak the language – not to mention the fact that specific medical terms are often difficult to translate into foreign tongues – presents a very specific problem, one that the Cuban government seems unconcerned with.
As for the condition of Cuba’s healthcare facilities, Nestor could only laugh at the way in which American “documentarian” Michael Moore presented them. The young doctor put it this way during our short exchange: “Listen, it’s very simple. Walk into most any small clinic in Cuba and you’re likely to find a clean, well-managed healthcare facility. However, should you fall ill and require a surgical procedure, you’re likely to be treated at an extremely outdated hospital covered with filth.” Nestor went on to describe the story of one elderly couple he had been treating for several years. The man of the house, a doctor himself, had been a lifelong smoker and alcoholic. After a mild stroke and a series of setbacks, he was checked into a local Havana hospital where his wife complained bitterly regarding the abundance of cockroaches, the lack of bed linens and the sheer overcrowding. Not even air conditioning was available to allow patients to rest in comfort. Compare to that, a facility like Havana’s Hospital Hermanos Ameijeiras, where that same elderly doctor’s wife recently underwent an in-patient procedure. Sarah (not her real name) was forced to call in every favor imaginable in order to gain entry into this facility – which treats primarily foreigners, government-types, and those with the right “connections.” The hospital was originally built as a bank in the 1950’s. The 15-20-story building, located along Havana’s Malecon seawall is indeed clean, comfortable and relatively state-of-the-art. It is also off-limits to the vast majority of Cuban citizens. Walk in with a Canadian or Spanish passport however, and you’re sure to receive treatment.
But what about Nestor’s financial situation? Like most any Cuban, Nestor is unable to survive on his monthly salary of 525 Cuban pesos. At an exchange rate of roughly 25 Cuban pesos to the U.S. dollar, Nestor is expected to provide for both himself and his wife on $21.00 USD per month. For those readers who cling to the belief that these meager salaries are supplemented by government rations, I’d like to point out that the current average monthly government ration in Cuba is as follows (per person):
Rice 5 lbs.
Beans 5 lbs.
Sugar 2 lbs.
Salt 2 lbs
Eggs: approximately 5 per person
One immediately notes that this diet contains nearly no protein. Five eggs per person, per month is about as good as it gets. So what’s an impoverished local doctor to do? In Nestor’s case, bet on squash. An avid player, the 37-year-old doctor plays an average of five games every week, placing five-dollar bets against foreigners and Cubans alike. He rarely loses.
So this is what it’s come to in Cuba – doctors forced to earn a living by betting on sports – which brings me to my next topic . . . the convertible peso (CUC) and the creation of a two-tier society of those who eat and those who go hungry. I’ll be delving into that topic next week. Stay tuned.
UPDATE
With all the talk on the upcoming 20/20 segment on Cuba's healthcare system and Michael Moore's new job as the Cuban regime's chief propagandist, I felt it important to alert readers that the Hospital Hermanos Ameijeiras - the same hospital which required the above-mentioned "Sarah" to pull every string imaginable, via every possible connection, is the same facility Michael Moore boasted about in his latest film, "Sicko." According to Mr. Moore, any Cuban can walk right in to Hermanos Ameijeiras and gain first-rate treatment - no medical apartheid here. Tell that to Cubans like Sarah, and doctors like Nestor. In short, Mr. Moore's statements concerning the hospital in Sicko were outright fabrications and falsehoods.
The American filmmaker even went so far as to claim that one of the 9/11 workers he had treated at the Havana facility - in a bid to see if any Cuban could obtain treatment at the facility - left the building and returned a short time later, posing as a Cuban citizen (she spoke fluent Spanish). Another outright lie. In Cuba, identification cards are ALWAYS reviewed when entering healthcare facilities. Furthermore, the idea of heavily accented American being able to convince a Cuban citizen that he/she is a local is, well . . . laughable.
Posted by at September 7, 2007 11:31 AM |
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Comments
It's not laughable at all if the whole thing was previously orchestrated so that the relevant people knew not to ask for ID and not to notice a foreign accent. I mean, this is all theater, pure and simple.
Every move Moore made in Cuba was CLOSELY supervised by the government. If the powers that be had even remotely suspected Moore might make them look bad, let alone double-cross them, he would never have been allowed to get into the ballpark, let alone to first base.
Posted by: asombra ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 7, 2007 12:56 PM
Exactly!
Posted by: CubaWatch at September 7, 2007 12:57 PM
Val -
Might it be possible to get "Dr. Nestor" out of the country along with his family? An interview with him would be great. -S-
Posted by: Dr.Shalit at September 7, 2007 01:24 PM
Dr. Shalit,
There are already hundreds (if not thousands) of "Dr. Nestors" who have defected. Many are in the United States. There are dozens in other parts of the world.
Many have provided their testimony about the sad state of Cuba's much praised healthcare system. They are routinely ignored or disbelieved.
Posted by: LittleGator at September 7, 2007 01:41 PM
I just wanted to point out one thing about the government rations because I misinterpreted their meaning until someone explained it to me. The ration book doesn't mean you are entitled to those items for free. The ration book means you are limited to purchasing a maximum of that amount of those items because of their limited supply. The chances of the store actually having the amount you can purchase is slim. If, for example, you want to buy more eggs than your ration, then you must purchase them at a dollar store where the prices are about double state side prices.
Posted by: Greg at September 7, 2007 02:13 PM
And all this assumes that you can actually find the goods in a government ration store. The ration stores I have seen in Cuba (Havana and other parts of the country) are usually empty. One store had only bananas. A lot of the goods mysteriously disappear on the way to the store. Meanwhile, people go door-to-door selling food on the black market. They ring the doorbell, pretending to be dropping by for a visit, and they slip in and out of peoples' houses, disgusing their products in shopping bags and making rapid transactions.
Posted by: Mariana at September 7, 2007 02:25 PM
There is no worse blindness than the unwillingness to see. The game is far too advanced, and information of all sorts is far too readily available, for anyone to claim ignorance (most especially media people).
Refusing to see and report what's in plain sight is a conscious, deliberate choice which responds to certain motives and/or a certain agenda.
Posted by: asombra at September 7, 2007 02:27 PM
Greg and Mariana,
Correct and correct! All very good, valid points.
Posted by: CubaWatch at September 7, 2007 02:51 PM
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