WikiLeaks has released diplomatic cables by an unidentified nurseassigned to the U.S. mission in Havana that offer a poor assessment ofCuba’s public health system, the Miami Heraldreports. The January 2008 cables reported on the many dilapidatedmedical facilities, primitive medical tools and lack of pain medicationfor chemotherapy and radiation patients. The cables reveal that bettermedical institutions are available for the elite and foreigners who canafford it. Only one facility provides specialty care and medicationsfor Cubans living with HIV. Because of transportation problems andcosts, these people visit at the facility only once a year. SomeHIV-positive Cubans had “SIDA” (AIDS in Spanish) stamped on theirnational I.D. cards.

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