Crisis in Policlínicos of Santiago de Cuba: No medical supplies in the dental departments

A young man from Santiago de Cuba reported that the dental emergency department of the Frank País Polyclinic, located in the Nuevo Vista Alegre neighborhood, does not have utensils for patient care.

The journalist Yosmany Mayeta reported this Tuesday on Facebook that a young man arrived at the emergency room with a severe toothache, but found no solution due to a shortage of medical supplies.

The 28-year-old young man stated that on Monday night he could barely open his eyes due to the pain: "Today I don't know what to do because I still can't talk about the pain I'm in," said the young man, who also reported the poor care from the health personnel at that medical center.

"How is it possible that a dental guard station does not have work tools for first aid?" questioned the young man, incredulous at the level of scarcity experienced in Cuba.

"It is painful what is happening in this country," he reflected. "If I have to pay 12 thousand pesos, I will pay it, but it's a disrespect," he said, referring to the fact that the private dental chairs existing in the city do have the necessary resources.

Journalist Yosmany Mayeta also amplified another complaint sent by a young woman from Santiago. The girl raised an alert about the same situation of shortages at the Camilo Torres Polyclinic, located on Heredia street.

"He had to withdraw from the dental center due to the lack of implements or utensils," Mayeta pointed out.

Finally, the communicator held the provincial health management of Santiago de Cuba responsible for not providing adequate care to patients.

"I also demand that Beatriz Johnson Urrutia and Manuel Falcón Hernández get out of their chairs and tour all the facilities in the province, just as Lázaro Expósito used to do," stated Mayeta, highlighting the inaction of those leaders.

"Fix the deficiencies, as there are many, and those most affected are those who cannot afford to pay a private practitioner or the doctors themselves who charge within the health facilities in the province," he pointed out, warning that currently some people find solutions to health problems in private practices, which are sanctioned by the regime.

The scarcity that exists in the public health system has forced people to resort to desperate measures.

A Cuban farmer demonstrated how he removes his own teeth and claims he does it due to a lack of resources in dental clinics in his community in the Holguín province.

The Cuban Alexander Rodríguez Santiesteban, a resident of Los Pinos in the Antilla municipality, starred in a scene that seems straight out of a chapter of "Don Quixote," when the ingenious gentleman has a molar knocked out with a punch during a fight.

And in addition to the lack of resources, there is also the terrible hygiene, as reported by the Cuban mother María Dinorah Arocha, who shared on social media the heartbreaking experience she had in the dental emergency service at the "Bernardo Posse" polyclinic in Havana.

Her son was suffering from intense toothache, and they had to go to the emergency room for help, but the doctor who was supposed to be on duty was not at her post.