Cheap Cuban medicines fill Miami cabinets

["Walter Lippmann" <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Is Cuba providing foreign medical aid to underserved
communities in the United States today? Strange as it
may seem to even ask that question, it's a reasonable
question to ask in light of an article in today's edition
of the Miami Herald of all newspapers in the world!

Since medical care and medicine production in Cuba isn't
driven by the profit motive as it is in the United States,
it's no wonder Cuban visitors to the island bring their
medications home with them. And, as we also know, Cuba is
now beginning to provide free med school educations to some
from the US who agree to return home and practice medicine
in the poor and depressed areas of this country.

On a previous visit I needed to purchase a medication for
my blood pressure. At the international pharmacy I was able
to buy it at a certain consistency, made in a nicer package
with each pill individually wrapped.

The same medication, in a Cuban generic, was available
in double the dosage for literally pennies in Cuban
pharmacies.

Practical experiences such as these help undercut support
for the blockade among Cuban-Americans, regardless of what
they may individually think of Cuba's government and social
system. In effect, if not in intent, socialist Cuba is
providing foreign aid to the medically under-served
communities of the United States. No wonder the government
in Washington is afraid of Cuba's greatest weapon: the
power of a positive example.

Read the full article and see a chart where prices are
compared between Cuba and the US at the Miami Herald today:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/6894282.htm



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