A young man from Santiago de Cuba reported that the dental emergency department at the Frank País Polyclinic, located in the Nuevo Vista Alegre neighborhood, lacks instruments for patient care.
Journalist Yosmany Mayeta reported on Facebook this Tuesday that a young man arrived at the emergency room with severe tooth pain, but was unable to find a 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," he pointed out, also reporting the poor treatment he received from the healthcare staff at that facility.
“How is it possible that a dental guard post has no first aid supplies?” the young man questioned, incredulous at the level of scarcity experienced in Cuba.
"It's painful what is happening in this country," he reflected. "If I have to pay 12,000 pesos, I will, but it's a lack of respect," he said, referring to the fact that the private dental chairs available in the city do have the necessary resources.
Journalist Yosmany Mayeta also highlighted another complaint sent by a young woman from Santiago. The young lady reported the same issue of shortages at the Camilo Torres Polyclinic, located on Heredia Street.
"She had to leave the dental center due to a lack of tools or equipment," Mayeta noted.
Finally, the communicator held the provincial health authorities of Santiago de Cuba responsible for failing to provide adequate care for patients.
"I also demand that Beatriz Johnson Urrutia and Manuel Falcón Hernández get up from their seats and tour all the facilities in the province, just as Lázaro Expósito used to do," Mayeta stated, highlighting the inaction of those leaders.
"Address the deficiencies, which are numerous, and the most affected are those who cannot afford to pay a private provider or the doctors who charge within the health facilities in the province," he pointed out, warning that currently, some people are finding solutions to their health problems in private practices, which are penalized by the regime.
The scarcity in the public health system has forced people to resort to desperate measures.
A Cuban farmer demonstrated how he extracts his own teeth, claiming he does it due to a lack of resources in dental clinics within his community in the Holguín province.
The Cuban Alexander Rodríguez Santiesteban, residing in Los Pinos, Antilla municipality, was involved in a scene that feels straight out of a chapter of "Don Quixote," when the ingenious nobleman has a tooth knocked out with a punch during a fight.
In addition to the lack of resources, the poor hygiene is also a significant issue, as highlighted by Cuban mother María Dinorah Arocha, who shared her heart-wrenching experience in the dental emergency service at the "Bernardo Posse" polyclinic in Havana on social media.
Her son was suffering from severe tooth pain, and they had to go to the emergency room for help, but the doctor who was supposed to be on call was not at her post.
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