WikiLeaks has released diplomatic cables by an unidentified nurse assigned to the U.S. mission in Havana that offer a poor assessment of Cuba’s public health system, the Miami Herald reports. The January 2008 cables reported on the many dilapidated medical facilities, primitive medical tools and lack of pain medication for chemotherapy and radiation patients. The cables reveal that better medical institutions are available for the elite and foreigners who can afford it. Only one facility provides specialty care and medications for Cubans living with HIV. Because of transportation problems and costs, these people visit at the facility only once a year. Some HIV-positive Cubans had “SIDA” (AIDS in Spanish) stamped on their national I.D. cards.

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