IDENTIDADES 1 ENGLISH february 2017 | Page 44

State and Society

The True Face of the Cuban Health System

Roberto Miguel Santana Citizens Committee for Racial Integration Antilla , Holguín , Cuba

T

he Cuban Health System is not so free and much less efficient as they picture it . And I emphasize these two things because the facts speak for themselves . Cuba is not just its known 16 provinces , since the municipalities , towns and neighborhoods are the real places to live for an estimated population of 11 238 317 inhabitants ( 2014 ), although the official statistics seem mythical because of the mass migration since 2013 . In each of these municipalities , towns and neighborhoods , we find educational and health problems , but I will focus on the latter . Across the country , we find thousands of incidents like this one I ’ m reporting with graphic support . The municipality Antilla ( Holguin Province ) comprises an intricate neighborhood called Pilón 6 . Here the electric current for its more than three thousand residents was installed in 2016 , after 57 years of revolution . The place is so remote that people find it very difficult to go to the hospital , but it wouldn ’ t be difficult for the hospital to provide the same services rendered by the government abroad through the trumpeted campaigns Operation Miracle and Barrio Adentro . In this and other intricate areas , the elderly and their families daily seek the miracle boasted by the government through the mass media .
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