Cuba’s health system buckles under strain of overwhelming Covid surge
A lack of medical supplies is crippling the Covid response, amid an economic crisis sparked by the pandemic and US sanctions
The idea that Cuba’s health care system could have been shit all along cannot be contemplated, right?
the island’s vaunted health service
Quite.
Monopsony, nepotism and ideological management will make any system shite. When a nationalised industry such as health cannot be compared for lack of a private comparison it can get away with anything.
I often wonder if our tourist industry is held back by the NHS.
The NHS has its own tourist industry, doesn’t it?
Talking of Covid, it’s interesting to look at the deaths stats (England & Wales) since March. The peak of the last Covid wave was Jan/Feb.
Deaths since week ending 5th March 2021 (all causes) – 222,397
Equivalent figures for 2020 – 284,555
Equivalent figures average 2015-2019 – 227,890
(figures up to week ending 6 August)
In other words, since March we are 60,000 down on last year and have been below the 5 year ‘normal’ average for pre-Covid.
We might be onto something here with tourism. Most hospitals are like The London Dungeon or those torture chambers in castles and A&E will give punters that authentic Kabul/Mogadischu/19thCent Whitechapel experience.
Cuba has exemptions for food and medicine from the US sanctions. And, there are no sanctions from the other 200 some countries staggering around. Vaunted medical system not fit for purpose.
When Fidel Castro went downhill they first imported a Doctor from Spain, then shipped him off to Spain for medical treatment… which suggests that the Cuban system is only fit for the peasants.