The Minister of Public Health, José Ángel Portal Miranda, presented this Sunday the draft of the Public Health Law in which, among the great novelties, it is expected to regulate the right to euthanasia.
The text is still unknown but, according to the official press, it proposes to recognize euthanasia as a “right of people to a dignified death and as a form of care and health care through a medical procedure that causes death.” “This is very revolutionary and we must not deprive our people of that right,” said Portal Miranda.
According to the statement, the Island would thus join the only seven countries that have legalized active euthanasia in the world: the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Canada, Colombia and New Zealand. However, Cuba could opt for other similar models depending on the final text. There are countries that have approved assisted suicide, such as Germany or Switzerland, and others in which passive euthanasia is practiced (a figure widely used and present both in the Nordic countries, the United Kingdom or France, as well as in Argentina, Chile and Mexico or India).
According to the statement, the Island would thus join the only seven countries that have legalized active euthanasia in the world: Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Canada, Colombia and New Zealand.
The draft Public Health Law also introduces other rules, such as the limits of free of charge. Thus, Cubans residing abroad must pay for the medical care expenses that they request in a timely manner. The law guarantees the right to public health, but it is limited to Cubans, foreigners with permanent residence in the country and humanitarian foreign residents, in contrast to countries like Spain, which maintain a public and universal health system for nationals and foreigners.
Other new features of the law would be the mandatory informed consent, which must be signed by the patient or their legal representative if they are not in a position to approve the medical procedures to which they are subjected. It was also advanced that there are specific sections for social care, sexual and reproductive health and assisted reproduction.
The content of the law will be disclosed in the first quarter of 2023 and will be debated to evaluate with the workers of the sector and the population to subsequently present it to the National Assembly, but the controversy that the approval of euthanasia will cause is already foreseeable. since in the debate of the commission this Sunday it already raised the first concerns, including that of a deputy who asked if it will be applied to children.
The law guarantees the right to public health, but is limited to Cubans, foreigners with permanent residence in the country and humanitarian foreign residents
José Luis Toledo Santander, president of the Constitutional and Legal Affairs Commission, responded that many aspects must be analyzed and the law is still in a preliminary phase. Other deputies coincided in pointing out that they expected the establishment of a very specific framework of rights and guarantees for health workers.
In addition, other related issues were addressed in the commission, such as the shortage of medicines. The minister recalled that there are 252 medicines in the basic list (consisting of 627) that are imported, which represents 40%, while the remaining 60% is produced by the Cuban industry. He also specified that 347 are for institutional use and 280 for sale in pharmacies, of which 84 are included in the control card.
At the close of December 5, the lack of medicines affected 219 products (of which 28 belong to the card) and another 197 had less than 30-day coverage.
“It is very hard, and we are convinced that nothing alleviates when a medicine is missing, but the health system has not stopped implementing actions to alleviate the situation as far as possible,” said Portal Miranda after talking about the large number of financing that has been dedicated to the pandemic, 53% of the resources, which has decreased other items.
The problems are not limited to drugs. The minister spoke of resources such as catheters, transfusion equipment, prostheses, collectors and, of course, pieces of technological diagnostic machinery that reduce capacity by 9%.
The minister spoke of resources such as catheters, transfusion equipment, prostheses, collectors and, of course, pieces of diagnostic technological machinery that reduce capacity by 9%.
After reciting all the operations and services that have been carried out on the island, the minister announced without detailing that he will begin “in an experimental manner in Havana a new model for the network of pharmacies and opticians, in search of greater control and transparency in the area of medicines and the protection of vulnerable groups”.
The commission also addressed the situation of waste collection, as well as obituary services, both in clear decline. However, the most worrying data were those offered in funeral transportation.
Mildrey Granadillo de la Torre, Vice Minister of Economy and Planning, explained that 615 cars are needed to guarantee the service and 377 are currently operating. Of these, only 233 are working.
“It is a very complex scenario, because it is not just about parts and pieces, but that they are aging car brands. The fleet in operation is mostly over 15 years old, with a significant degree of deterioration,” he explained. At the moment, 35 new imported vehicles are expected to arrive this December, although it was not said from where.
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