GÜINES, August 7 (José Izquierdo, Grupo Decoro /
www.cubanet.org) - Doctors in Güines, a town south of Havana, are asking
patients with broken bones to buy sanitary paper, only available in
dollar-denominated stores, so they can cast the fractures.
Orthopedists at the local "Aleida Fernández" hospital say
they don't have the proper absorbent material to wrap the body part before
putting on the cast.
Olga González, a nurse at the hospital, said the material has not
been available at the hospital since last year.
So patients must come up with 1.50 dollars to buy six rolls of sanitary
paper if they want their fracture set. That's a big chunk of the average monthly
salary of 240 pesos, or 9.23 dollars at the official exchange rate.
Also, they had better plan on getting their cast put on during the day,
because the dollar-denominated stores are not open at night.
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