We were told that the state provides a doctor for every 250 people and judging by the number of these houses we saw, this seemed quite believable. One of the doctors we talked to showed us around his clinic on the ground floor. In his case, paediatrics and gynaecology. Pointing to posters on the walls and readily available leaflets about self-examination for breast cancer, education on Aids and vaccination for children, the doctor explained that in Cuba the emphasis was on preventative medicine. Clearly, he belonged to the people he served.
Transport remains one of the most difficult problems.
Thousands of people throughout the country are daily on the move, but there is simply not enough public transport to go around. There are trains between major cities although we didn't see any. There are also buses, some of great vintage and most of a type we hadn't seen before. It trundles through the city streets, full to overflowing and invariably belching black smoke. In the country people travelled in huge open lorries, often crammed in like sardines, whatever the weather.