How Could Cubans Live 120 years?

Irel Gómez Moreira Camagüey, Cuba

W hat should we do to live 120 years or more with good quality of life? I ´ m listening to this question every day and wonder how is it possible to talk about quality of life and to live 120 years, if the overwhelming majority cannot enjoy a good quality of life. Let ´ s see, for instance, where to live. In Camagüey, the media disseminate advances in both new homes building and resources granted to people in need. It is true that, in the historic center of the city, we can find innumerable new constructions: hotels, restaurants and shops operating with hard currency, but the peripheral neighborhoods are destroyed. Diarrheal and respiratory diseases are proliferating because of the poor state of housing, the pollution of drinking water and the lack of sewerage. Misery villages are boxes of resonance for the discontent population. Complaints are daily filed against various governmental institutions, but no satisfactory response is given. Those residing in these villages are prone to commit crimes and one of the underlying causes is the lack of support by the state. The illegal sale of building materials in the black market is wellknown, but he state agencies do not act in a timely manner. After some of these residents have gone through innumerable sacrifices in order to raise or to improve their homes, the Physical Planning inspectors— always in joint operation with the Police— appear to impose fines, to undo what had been built, and to evict the occupants, unless they have a good amount to bribe all the authorities involved. Thus, the discomfort and irritation is growing among a population without any hope of living 120 years under the government ' s double discourse of the carrot and the stick. Bank loans for home building and repair have now increased. Those who receive such credits must deal with the lack of some construction materials at the points of sale. Hence improvised inadequate dwells are spreading. Often the whole family, including children and elders, live without any privacy. No wonder psychiatric consultations are on the rise. And let ' s not forget that building a house deprives from resources to meet other basic needs, including food. All this suffering particularly affects the elders, who must be the group most interested in reaching 120 years. By 2050 Cuba will have one of the world largest relative number of older adults, but for having a good quality of life these adults must have proper food and medicine, good medical care and family care, and easy ways of access and processing in offices and businesses. Our health system is not taking action on this issue. Not even the so-called family doctor and nurse always follow the guidelines to deal with the elderly. Official figures show that 13 out of 100 elders live alone. Many are the parents of young people who went abroad in pursue of new horizons. What will become of these elders living alone, when they turn unable to function in self-care activities? Who will take care of them? Are there enough institutions