Cuba enjoys publicity from Moore's "SiCKO"

Yahoo! News ^ | July 16, 2007 | Anthony Boadle

[2ndDivisionVet]

HAVANA - Michael Moore's new documentary film "SiCKO" has given Cuba's free health system its best publicity since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, a Cuban doctor who hosted the filmmaker's visit said on Monday.

Moore took eight Americans sickened after volunteering for the September 11, 2001, rescue efforts for free treatment in Cuba in March in order to extol the Communist state's universal care in his film, which attacks the U.S. health system for being driven by profits and leaving millions uninsured.

"SiCKO" has stirred heated debate in the United States since opening in June due to its scathing indictment of the U.S. pharmaceutical and medical insurance industries. Moore argues that a poor country like Cuba is doing a better job than the United States at looking after its citizens' health.

"Michael Moore spurred more interest in our health system than the 40-odd years we have spent providing health to our people," Dr. Jaime Davis, who provided free check-ups and treatment to Moore's group, told Reuters.

During their 10-day visit, the U.S. patients received treatment for respiratory problems caused by inhaling dust in the ruins of the World Trade Center. Some were treated for dental and digestive problems, Davis said.

Moore himself had his blood pressure taken.

Stopping at a pharmacy, one member of the group bought a refill for his inhaler at the highly subsidized price of one Cuban peso, equivalent to 5 U.S. cents.

"Give me a thousand," Moore joked to the attendant, saying the same medication cost $50 in the United States, Davis said.

Davis, a surgeon now working for the Health Ministry's international affairs office, said Moore's group left with "improved health," but gave no details.

Free and universal health care and education are considered the major achievements of the socialist system built by Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Cuban hospitals are often crumbling and badly lit, and lack equipment and medicines. But the health system, using the resources of a developing country. has produced results on par with rich nations'.

The number of children dying before their fifth birthday is seven per 1,000 live births in Cuba, versus eight per 1,000 in the United States, according to the World Health Organization.

"Moore is showing the reality of the Cuban health system and that a very positive message for us," Davis said.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Moore himself is a living example of why socialized medicine would bankrupt the United States in short order.

[FormerACLUmember]

Only a certifiable moron would subject himself to Cuba’s grotesquely over-hyped medical system.

[FormerACLUmember]

Cuban hospitals are often crumbling and badly lit, and lack equipment and medicines. But the health system, using the resources of a developing country. has produced results on par with rich nations'.

Cuba was the wealthiest nation in Latin America prior to Castro. After 48 years of liberal tyranny, it is the poorest. The "success" of the health care system is a total propaganda fraud.

[elizabetty]

Let’s list all the world leaders, billionaires and celebrities who have flown to Cuba for health care when they get sick.

[4rcane]

hey you know, this movie might highlight the two systems in cuba, for the cubians who watch it. Cubians will be disgusted

[ml/nj]

Parts of the Cuban health care system that Sicko probably missed can be read about here.

One of the greatest fallacies about the so called 'Cuban Revolution' has to do with healthcare.

Foreigners who visit Cuba, are fed the official line from Castro's propaganda machine: "All Cubans are now able to receive excellent healthcare, which is also free." But the truth is very different. Castro has built excellent health facilities for the use of foreigners, who pay with hard currency for those services.

Argentinean soccer star Maradona, for example, has traveled several times to Cuba to receive treatment to combat his drug addiction. But Cubans are not even allowed to visit those facilities. Cubans who require medical attention must go to other hospitals, that lack the most minimum requirements needed to take care of their patients. ...

Continued at www.therealcuba.com.

ML/NJ

[shamusotoole]

The good news comes in doing the math. $2.7 million (gross last week) divided by $7.oo per ticket equals 385,714 viewers last week, and dropping like a stone.

I’m pretty certain those folks are already Cuba wise. This article is a feeble attempt to wake up the yawning masses.