I've decided to rant today.. I have my reasons! I have been away from my desk the past two days because a bloody kidney infection prevented me from getting up. It hurts! I am better now and as I said I am back at work.. 50 emails to read, 50 voicemails to listen to, people at your desk the whole bloody day, leave me alooooooone! I want my bed, or better lying on this beach there. It is a beach on Isla Mujeres, an island just a few kilometres away from Cancun, the horrible / vulgar / colonised / bad taste party/ fuck / cocaine spot. Brrrr, just thinking about this place gives me the creeps... This island is very nice though, we rented bicycles my copine Elo and myself and the coast was empty, no bloody tourist annoying you, just enjoying a bit of the sea and palm trees..
I was ranting wasn't I? I am angry at this country's health system (which is a great word for such a shitty stuff). I went to a doctor 2 days ago, the consultation fee is €55 (who the hell can pay that???), the antibiotics are three times more expensive than at home... I spent €80 for 15 minutes at the doctors and a week of medication. Not that I can't afford it myself, this is not the issue, but I don't like the principle at all. I remember accompanying a friend of mine to a (public) hospital two years ago. She went there by 8 o'clock. When I came back from work (at around 7PM), she was still in the waiting room, they had taken 3 or 4 samples of different body fluids, no info, no follow-up, no results. After I threatened the whole lot of doctors, nurses etc she finally got a bed, around 10PM.. She went out the next morning, with the advice that if the troubles were coming back (her tummy was so painful she couldn't even sit...) then she would have to be admitted again... I have thousands of stories on the health system in this country, diagnoses that never are revealed to the patient, results of cancer tests that are false and that delay treatments and so on.. Just to make you aware why it makes me that angry is that Ireland is now the 2nd richest country in Europe after Luxemburg, the 6th richest country in the WORLD (GDP per capita). But the services are still the ones of a poor country.. but only for poor or not that wealthy people. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Seriously Ireland is the perfect country to live in if you are two or more of the following: young, healthy, rich, white. If you are old, with a chronic disease, a non well paid job and that you belong to the quarter of people having difficulties with literacy well good luck.
