18-Jan-2001 -- EWTN News
Brief
HAVANA, (CWNews.com) - Catholic leaders have denounced a campaign launched
by Cuban health authorities to prevent Cubans from receiving medicine through
the Catholic Church organization Caritas.
According to a report by "Cuba Prensa Libre," an independent news
organization, the Ministry of Public Health in Aguada de Pasajeros, near the
southern city of Cienfuegos, has forbidden doctors to provide patients with the
needed prescriptions to obtain free medicine distributed by Caritas. "Any
doctor that issues a prescription for the Catholic Church will be severely
punished," said municipal health director Gilberto Ramos in a recent
assembly with health workers.
Caritas dispenses medicine-- donated by US Catholic organizations and
European countries-- that are usually unavailable in Cuba unless paid for in
dollars.
According to "Cuba Prensa Libre," family doctor Osvaldo Naranjo
Paz was recently threatened with sanctions for helping Caritas in the
distribution of the medicines.
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