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Cuban doctors survive on salaries equivalent to just 16 dollars a month, in a healthcare system characterized by a lack of resources, declining services, and overburdened healthcare personnel.
A report by Reuters describes how professionals with decades of experience are forced to seek additional income to survive, while facing hospitals lacking supplies, poor hygiene conditions, and limitations in patient care.
Official salaries, which range from 7,000 to 8,000 Cuban pesos, are insufficient compared to the cost of basic products such as food. This has led many doctors to leave the public sector or emigrate in search of better conditions.
The deterioration of the system is also reflected in the rising surgical waitlists, which exceed 96,000 patients and could reach 160,000, as well as in the lack of medications, oxygen, and anesthesia for hundreds of procedures, including pediatric surgeries.
In hospitals and health centers, the shortage has forced staff to reuse materials or improvise with limited resources, while they face the emotional strain of being unable to provide adequate care.
Despite the official rhetoric acknowledging difficulties while emphasizing the resilience of the sector, consulted doctors describe a scenario of exhaustion, frustration, and a progressive deterioration of one of the historical pillars of the Cuban system.
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