State and Society
Serious Problems in Guantánamo’ s Health System
Rolando Tudela Iribar Former Political Prisoner and Independent Trade Unionist Guantánamo, Cuba
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ince some time ago and very often, medical care in Cuba’ s easternmost province is going from bad to worse. Cuba is trumpeted as medical power and as referent for many Spanish-speaking countries in America. Biotechnological achievements have placed the island among the leading group of developed countries in this scientific area. It’ s nothing more but the fact that we are incredibly capable and competent in medical sciences despite everything related to the embargo or blockade. Still, things seem to be working without any logic. I will focus on my home town and actual residence place, Guantanamo, where things are not going well in the medical field. The region has been going through dengue, cholera and other epidemics for more than a decade. I must be as sincere as possible, since the government has allocated all kinds of resources for developing modern medicine despite certain economic circumstances, but it contrasts with what is happening more and more frequently. It’ s alarming, given the negligent and indolent nature reflected by the facts. There are well-documented cases that caused anger and frustration among the people affected by the lack of response to their demands. These cases have resulted in permanent damage for and even the death of the patients. Many of them had to undergo surgery more than once, with the consequent psychological damage for both the affected persons and their relatives.
The ills are greater because unease, fear and mistrust are growing among the population. Often, we heard comments about negligent doctors and nurses, who are seeking pecuniary benefits and yearn a medical mission abroad to make some money for solving their economic needs. For them it doesn’ t matter much to provide an iota of care and attention to the people herein. There are testimonies about doctors who provide better attention because they take a gift. Even pigs and ewes are well accepted. There are also unbelievable, but true reports about complications after Caesarean sections, like serious infectious forcing the return to the emergency room because of gauze, surgical gloves and even surgical clamps carelessly left inside the woman’ s body. It is so creepy and dramatic what happens at General University Teaching Hospital Agostino Neto that its Room 5- C( Room C on the 5th floor) is popularly called Room 8, the Spanish title for the American film Coma( 1978), which was about a clinic room designed to kill people for selling their organs. I’ m personally involved in one case and it motivated me to write despite the risks associated with addressing health care issues, which are taboos under the government policy aimed to staunchly defend the achievements by the Cuban medicine without allowing anyone to question them. The truth is just one and silence is neither good nor brave. I reserve name and address of the
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