Dengue Outbreak in Cuba

It has been reported that in Cuba there is a spread of dengue fever, José Antonio Fornaris reports that

dengue fever is on the upswing in Havana, according to one researcher who said she had recorded six thousand cases in the Párraga neighborhood of Arroyo Naranjo municipality in the city.

The researcher said the ward where dengue cases are referred in the local Julio Trigo hospital is completely full.

A nurse in the municipality who said new cases are admitted daily to the Covadonga, Calixto García, and Dependientes hospitals, said public health authorities cannot explain the increase in the number of cases.

Authorities have been waging a campaign against the mosquito that transmits the disease, with aerial fumigation in open areas and daily home visits by public health personnel looking for mosquito breeding grounds. Nonetheless, critics say authorities have not acknowledged the outbreak in the city.

It is no surprise that Cuba does not have the wealth and technology sufficient enough to combat these common diseases. The capitalist entrepreneurial system is what has brought the United States an enormous rise in the standard of living of all its citizens. Until Cuba turns to a market economy, the standard of living of the average Cuban citizen will not increase and they will be incapable of expanding their economy.