Dr. Biscet and questions about the Cuban healthcare systemA Cuban doctor in Havana exposes poor conditions in a Cuban hospital. Why is it that in 2013 this reality still takes many by surprise?
One of the myths of the Castro dictatorship that refuse to be brought to an end by the harsh reality is that of the Cuban health care system. The infrastructure has been steadily decaying for decades, even when heavily subsidized for decades by first the Soviet Union and then until today by Venezuela.One just needs to scratch the surface and ask themselves if the health care system in Cuba is so great:
Why is there a cholera epidemic underway when the last one to hit Havana was in 1883? Why did 26 mental patients die from negligence and exposure in January of 2010?
Why did the son of one of the commandants of the regime, Juan Juan Almeida, go on hunger strike to try to obtain needed healthcare?Why is their a two tiered system for elites and those with tourist dollars that is top notch and a substandard one for most Cubans?
Why do international organizations ignore this reality and accept the doctored statistics provided by the dictatorship? Why do they not listen first hand to those brave souls willing to talk about the actual state of prenatal care?
At the end of the day, the divorce between the dismal reality of the Cuban healthcare system and the myth erected by the dictatorship and maintained by many others raises other troubling questions.