Cuban Doctors: Moore's 'Sicko' Patients Got VIP Care

Three New York rescue workers injured in the September 11 attacks got the best treatment Cuba can offer in Michael Moore's film critique of U.S. health care, the Cuban doctors who attended them said this week.

The 9/11 responders spent 10 days on the 19th floor of Cuba's flagship hospital with a view of the Caribbean sea, a sharp contrast to many Cuban hospitals that are crumbling, badly lit, and which lack equipment and medicines.

They included a fireman and an emergency medical technician, Regina Cervantes, with respiratory problems caused by inhaling dust and fumes in the World Trade Center ruins.

There were given a barrage of tests, including a psychological evaluation, and new dosages of medication. One got a tooth implant for a jaw fractured at Ground Zero.

The main difference with their treatment in the United States: there was no bill.

"We can't say we did miracles in the few days they were here. What we did was give them the highest quality treatment. It was totally free," said Dr. Nelson Gomez, medical director of the Hermanos Almejeiras Hospital.

Cervantes, who rushed to Ground Zero on September 11 and had a badly burnt airway after three days of rescue work, said last month that after being treated in Havana she was taken off medication she could hardly afford in the United States.

The movie, "SiCKo", has stirred heated debate in the United States since opening in June.

Moore used Cuba to argue that other countries are providing better health care to its citizens than the United States with far fewer resources, putting the blame on profit-driven U.S. pharmaceutical and medical insurance industries. Communist Cuba's universal free health system has achieved low child mortality and high longevity rates on a par with rich nations since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution.

But the hospital where SiCKO's patients were treated is an exception in Cuba, where patients of many other hospitals complain they have to take their own sheets and food.

The building with a majestic high-ceiling lobby was meant to be Cuba's central bank when it was started by U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista. Completed years after Castro's revolution, it was turned into Cuba's top hospital.

The 750-bed Hermanos Almejeiras is Cuba's main hospital for heart and liver transplants with a staff of 500 doctors and 800 nurses.

Cuban health officials say they have given priority to preventing disease by renovating a network of 498 neighborhood health centers across the island that bring health care closer to people's homes.

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.

At Rampa Polyclinic in Havana, where Moore's group was seen before referral to hospital, Dr. Juan Carlos Castellanos said Cubans do not die of infectious diseases prevalent in Third World countries.

"The main causes of death in Cuba are the same as in rich nations: cardiovascular disease and cancer," he said, sitting under a picture of revolutionary icon and doctor, Che Guevara.

Thank you for the link. I once attended a seminar about how to communicate population research to the decision makers and mass media. It was taught by a liberal professor, of course. One of the main strategies they told us was to use ‘real example’ together with statistical data. By ‘real example’, she meant a person’s life story, pictures, etc. The basic point is ‘to give statistical data a face’. It’s an effective strategy because it appeals to people’s feeling as well as mind. I see that liberals use this strategy effectively, but conservatives have not.

I don’t know Rizzuto’s source but this is copied from his blog....
kinda interesting.....

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Michael Moore lies about Cuba’s low infant mortality rate

Yesterday, I had a conversation with arch-liberal Alex Bennett prior to the start of The Wilkow Majority. He was just gushing over Michael Moore’s film. It is from that conversation that this blog arose. Enjoy!

With the release of Michael Moore’s latest film Sicko, we can expect to be bombarded with a wave of misinformation not seen since…well, Michael Moore’s last movie. The most provocative of this misinformation will undoubtedly be concentrating on the socialist welfare system of totalitarian Cuba. In the film, Moore points to the fact that Cuba’s infant mortality rate is lower than that of the USA, as proof of Cuba’s superior healthcare system. Cuba boasts an infant mortality rate of 6.04 according to the 2007 estimate of the CIA World Factbook, while America’s rate is estimated at 6.37. On its face, this may seem like a compelling argument. Upon further inspection however, Moore’s assertion not only falls flat, but is outright misleading and disingenuous.

These numbers can not be adequately analyzed and compared without looking at the abortion rates of of the two nations. America has the highest teen pregnancy rate in the western world. Teen pregnancies are by their very nature considered “high risk” due to the high incidents of low birth weight. A full one in five infant deaths are attributed to high risk teen pregnancy.

America’s high teen pregnancy rate is attributed in large part due to its low abortion rate, which stands at a little over 2 abortions per 10 pregnancies. Cuba on the other hand has the highest abortion rate in the western hemisphere According to the communist governments own date a full 6 in 10 pregnancies are terminated before coming to term, and are paid for by the state. This number may or may not include the forced abortions which are a matter of routine in Cuba. Since abortions favor the teen demographic disproportionately, Cuba has a lower percentage of at risk pregnancies amongst its populace. In other words, many at risk pregnancies are simply terminated before they come to term.

Adjusted for this factor, Cuba’s infant mortality rate would surely rise dramatically. This is the nuance that is never found in Moore’s propaganda. Don’t drink the Kool-aid.

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