This is what some locals and doomsayers from other places claim, based on the shortages and limitations that are currently affecting the performance of this important sector in the country, under the impact of the complex domestic economic situation and, above all, battered by the measures of the genocidal blockade imposed by the U.S. government against the Cuban people; a monstrosity that certain memoryless nationals and certain cynics from outside insist on denying or minimizing the consequences of the blockade.
If we are going to dress the truth in words, it is true that the Cuban public health system and its institutions are suffering, like never before, the apogee of that criminal policy, reflected in the lack of medical supplies and resources; difficulty in acquiring latest generation technologies and drugs and the lack of dollars to acquire them.
They also suffer from the refusal of different pharmaceutical firms and laboratories to deal with the country’s institutions, and little or no access to credits and banking operations in other nations, due to the absurd inclusion of Cuba in the list of countries that supposedly sponsor terrorism.
Added to the string of difficulties in the field of health services in this rebellious land are the empire’s encouragement to the disorderly migration of professionals in the field, and the desertion of doctors and other specialists needed on missions abroad; there is also the abandonment of their jobs by a not inconsiderable number of doctors and nurses in search of better salaries and fewer responsibilities; and graduations in breach of the Hippocratic oath.
This long list of objective realities and others, not always attributable to the health system or the Government, are the main causes of the tensions and failures present today in doctors’ offices, hospitals, polyclinics, specialized clinics, clinical laboratories and related units in Florida and the rest of the Cuban archipelago.
Fidel warned: it is in difficult times that the convictions and character of men are truly known; and there will always be those who give up, those who betray, those who get tired and quit the cause.
But undoubtedly, none of this tarnishes or demerits the moral, ethical, committed and gigantic effort of that still immense group of doctors, nurses, technicians, assistants and managers who are still there, bravely, next to the patient; at the combat post for the well-being of the people, without bending before challenges such as blackouts, the deficit of syringes, probes, antibiotics and so many logistical and daily life needs.
None of them bet on selfishness and egocentricity: while I spread this plea, they save lives with the scalpel of intelligence, the stethoscope of humanism and the thermometer of solidarity and hope.
So my people, at least in my modest opinion: Cuba was not, it is an insuperable medical power.
How many health systems in the world would have withstood a category five hurricane, such as the one already mentioned, without putting a cost on free care, equal access and acting “with all and for the good of all” defended by the Cuban tooth and nail?
Undoubtedly, there are many kinks to be worked out in this field as in the rest of society: to face crime and labor indiscipline; to attend to the symptoms of mistreatment of the population in the units; to fight against manifestations of opportunism and favoritism, and to banish the indifference of some in white coats are specific challenges of the sector without becoming majorities.
Yes, Cuba can still proudly wear its crown as a medical power. The indicators prove it in Florida: a mortality rate and a Maternal and Infant Care Program where the concern for the survival of the mother and the newborn are reflected; operating rooms open to elective or emergency surgery; hospitals, polyclinics, family clinics and nursing homes with open doors despite not having all the human and material resources.
Vaccines and oncological and renal treatments that cost millions and are dispensed free of charge to all, in a country where thousands of individuals do not contribute a grain of sweat to the collective construction, speak loud and clear of what, and who we are in the custody of the dignity and sacred rights of the human being.
I reiterate it with certainty: Cuba is not only a medical power, it is also a power of resistance and courage in this field.
Honor, respect and applause for those who right now are doubling their guard and keeping vigil in hospital wards and consulting rooms, and eternal gratitude to those who seek alternatives and do not lose heart in the defense of that beautiful conquest of the Revolution and of Fidel that is free, humane and universal health, in the face of many who seek to stain it, destroy it or discredit it before the eyes of the people and the public opinion of the rest of the world.
I will return to the subject guided by the preaching of the Apostle of Independence, José Martí: “the truth well spoken, and spoken in time, reigns and dissipates, like smoke, the infamy of the enemy”.
