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Departure Of Cuban Doctors Leave Countryside Public Clinics Scrambling
In Bahia, nurses take over physicians' duties, and patients give up their treatments
Nov.29.2018 1:41PM
Marina Estarque
SÍTIO DO QUINTO, ANTAS, EUCLIDES DA CUNHA (BA)
Retired plowman Adelaidio Andrade, 61, says that his wife "one day lifted a pot full of beans and lost her health." That's how he describes the moment Luzia, 54, had a stroke while cooking.
The stroke's consequences left her with half of her body paralyzed and one hand, deformed, and she has difficulty to walk and speak. She now receives a disability benefit. "She became crippled and can't talk anymore," explains Adelaidio.
The couple lives in Jardim, a rural district in Sítio do Quinto, in the deep Bahia backcountry, around 250 miles away from the capital Salvador.
After the Cuban withdrawal from the Mais Médicos program, the nearest public clinic to Luzia's house, in the nearby village of Tingui, was left with no doctor. The situation meant that improvisations, already a staple of the area's healthcare routine, only got worse.
More:
https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/brazil/2018/11/departure-of-cuban-doctors-leave-countryside-public-clinics-scrambling.shtml