CIEGO DE ÁVILA, May 3 (Rubén A. Mulet, Partido Solidaridad Democrática) - Patients in the south-central Cuban community of Jatibonico can obtain the medicines they need in one of three different ways -in theory. In practice, they are likely not to be able to get them at all
due to new bureaucratic complications.
Way number one would be to buy the needed medicines at a dollar-denominated store, where medicines are fairly widely available. The thing is, the patients are not likely to have the right currency; it has been estimated that from 70 to 80 percent of the population doesn't have regular access to
dollars.
A second way would be to get the medicines at a Public Health Ministry pharmacy. Problem here is these are notorious for being out of stock on most items. The third way is to obtain the medicine from Caritas, the Catholic charity, which distributes medicines in Cuba. All the patient requires is
a prescription certifying the need for a particular medication. But municipal public health authorities in Jatibonico have forbidden physicians to write prescriptions for patients to get medicines at the Caritas offices in the region.
Versión original en español
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