Structural Collapse at CIMEQ Hospital

Structural Collapse at CIMEQ Hospital / Juan Juan Almeida
Posted on January 1, 2016

Juan Juan Almeida, 29 December 2015 — More than six million dollars is
the tab to cover a 2015 collapse caused by a riotous orgy of negligence.
This is how they are describing the Cuban Ministry of Public Health's
most closely guarded secret. I will explain it but will try not to
burden you with too much scientific jargon.

Accompanying photos (click here) show the construction of an ultramodern
cyclotron unit within the confines of Havana's Medical Center for
Surgical Research (CIMEQ), which was intended for use in teaching and
research.

The collapse of a floor, the result of egregious violations of building
code regulations which cover such facilities, has led to losses that
have yet to be disclosed by Cuban authorities. The losses include a unit
for producing radionuclides for medical use, a radiopharmacy laboratory
for producing and storing radiopharmaceuticals and various chemical
synthesis modules.

A cyclotron is a particle accelerator that produces a short-lived
radioisotope that, when added to glucose, is injected into the
bloodstream and serves as a diagnostic imaging tool in nuclear medicine.
Cancer cells rapidly absorb the substance and then emit radiation, which
allows physicians to identify the cells' location through the use a
positron emission tomograph.

Once it became operational — something which of course will now not
happen (at least not as urgently as initially planned) — Cuba had
counted on being a world leader in the field of medical diagnosis
through nuclear molecular imaging.

In other words, it is an advanced technology which makes it possible to
safely and painlessly detect medical pathologies before the first
symptoms of a given illness manifest themselves.

For example, it allows doctors to diagnose early-stage and late-stage
cancers as well as residual and recurring tumors, and to qualify and
quantify myocardial metabolism and blood flow while identifying living
tissue in areas of infarction. It also enables physicians to diagnose
Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, benign brain tumors
as well as congenital and degenerative diseases, psychoses and/or mental
disorders such as schizophrenia.

It is worth noting that this type of equipment and testing generates
radioactivity. Accordingly, there are international accords designed to
regulate building standards that guarantee the basic safety of such
facilities and ensure protection against the dangers of radiation.

All facilities that process materials containing radionuclides are,
quite logically, governed by a single body of regulations. Except in
Cuba, on the grounds of CIMEQ, they were violated.

According to universally accepted building construction codes, such a
specialized and sophisticated structure requires micron steel plates,
reinforced concrete and other special materials. However, because of
irresponsible decisions to cut costs and find innovative solutions —
suggested and approved by members of a long chain of command that will
never be punished — these materials were not used. Or they were used but
not correctly, so the building collapsed.

All the commotion created by this unforeseen event attracted a lot of
attention. Local authorities, negligent but cautious, displayed extreme
indifference. They chose to play down the event, resorting to the trite
saying "We lost a lot more during the war." As part of their inspection,
they tirelessly scrutinized all the cell phones of workers and
eyewitnesses in order to — as they put it — prevent unauthorized photos
from appearing in the media and on social networks.

They tirelessly scrutinized all the cell phones of workers and
eyewitnesses in order to — as they put it — prevent unauthorized photos
from appearing in the media and on social networks.

Source: Structural Collapse at CIMEQ Hospital / Juan Juan Almeida |
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