MADRID, Spain. – Amidst the health crisis that Cuba is facing, Minister of Tourism, Juan Carlos García Granda, stated recently that Cuba “has a high potential for becoming a benchmark in health tourism worldwide.”
During the inauguration of the First International Fair on Medical and Wellness Tourism, García Granda stated that Cuba has the conditions for developing health tourism since, in addition to sun and beaches destinations, the country has “medical professionals, rigorous biosecurity protocols and programs for improving the quality of life.”
Cuba’s Prime Minister, Manuel Marrero Cruz was quoted by the Escambray newspaper as saying that the event “will propitiate a renewed emphasis on tourism offers in a modality for which Cuba has an infrastructure, highly qualified professionals, a network of services and lead programs for the treatment of illnesses such as cancer and diabetes.”
He added, also, that during the gathering “wellness products and services provided jointly by the ministries of Tourism and Public Health, based on access and in a safe environment” were promoted.
However, the Cuban people not only do not have access to these “wellness products and services”, but also on a daily basis cannot find even the most basic of medications, and must face unhygienic conditions in hospitals and a lack of specialists that can treat them for their ailments.
On October 17th, it was learnt that Havana’s Salvador Allende Hospital, also known as La Covadonga, was practically without lab technicians, as most of them had left the country in recent days.
Also, Cuban citizens also publish posts constantly requesting help in finding medications.
Last July, young Andy Agüero Barrios died after several hours at the Rafael Valdés policlinic while he waited for an ambulance to transport him to a hospital.
Last July, Grupo Empresarial BioCubaFarma revealed that during the first six months of 2022, they fell short on 142 pharmaceutical products, which represents more than one third of the 369 basic medications included in the National Health System.
That notwithstanding, the Cuban regime continues to present marketing models for medical tourism and developing trends in wellness tourism.
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