Private clinics were only accessible to those with resources, and public hospitals were underfunded, inaccessible to most rural residents, badly equipped, and crippled by corruption. In Cuba, the medical university is not a separate entity from health services, but it exists within the system. The iconic example of this solidarity with the poorest of the earth is Operation Miracle, a major vision restoration program launched in 2004 by Fidel Castro and Hugo Chávez. Today, all healthcare is regulated and financed by the government, and is provided to Cubans free of cost. Due to ongoing economic insecurity and the challenges of importing medical supplies as well as raw materials for the domestic fabrication of medicines, certain common medicines remain in short supply, and healthcare facilities are not as comfortable or updated as many patients would prefer. ", Similarly, Cuba trains young physicians worldwide in its Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM). The Cuban healthcare system employs a three-tiered structure for organizing primary, secondary, and tertiary care. Cuba's healthcare system persists, in part, due to its medical education system. In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina devastated the United States Gulf Coast, then-President Fidel Castro commissioned a new volunteer brigade, the “Henry Reeve Brigade,” to offer aid to the U.S. in the form of thousands of medical professionals trained in disaster response. For the same year, this infant mortality rate is far below the WHO regional value given for Latin America and the Caribbean (14.88 deaths per 1000 live births), and compares favorably to that of European Union countries, at 3.45 deaths per 1000 live births. [9], In total, nearly 165 Cuban institutions participate in Operation Miracle, which maintains a network of 49 ophthalmological centers and 82 surgical units in 14 countries in Latin America: Bolivia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Grenada, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Venezuela and Uruguay. ©2020 Verizon Media. 3 Keck, C. W. (2012). [13] Nyliam Vásquez García, "La escuela más avanzada del mundo," Juventud Rebelde, January 28, 2014. Overall, Cuba’s SNS stresses the holistic nature of health and well-being, treating the patient as a “biopsychosocial” entity, with biological, psychological, community-based, and social forces all intersecting to determine the individual’s health status. To overcome limited access to pharmaceuticals, technology, and other material resources, the country has leveraged its strength in education and high number of trained doctors to focus on making primary care accessible and community-based. Each municipality has 6-7 polyclinics serving 25,000-35,000 people, There are 256 hospitals nationally and 13 medical research centers that provide care, Health care should be an equal and free right for all, Health care should be managed and provided by the state, The public is responsible for participating in the development and functioning of the health system, Health care should be integrated with the economic and social development, The health system should cooperate in global health activities. Despite extremely limited resources and the dramatic impact caused by the economic sanctions imposed by the United States for more than half a century, Cuba has managed to guarantee access to care for all segments of the population and obtain results similar to those of the most developed nations. When patients require a higher degree of care or attention, they move up to the second level of healthcare, which includes provincially managed hospitals and centers of specialization to treat sick patients, handle complications, and encourage rehabilitation. Download a PDF with sources for this report here. 12] World Health Organization, "World Malaria Report 2013," 2013, p. v. http://www.who.int/malaria/publications/world_malaria_report_2013/report/en/ (site accessed July 19, 2014). The organization cites the case of the Caribbean island as the perfect counter-example [3]. The Cuban healthcare system employs a three-tiered structure for organizing primary, secondary, and tertiary care. Like many countries with improved healthcare and limited birth rates, Cuba is also facing the issue of an aging population. Cuba’s healthcare system is a source of pride for its communist government. Today is National Voter Registration Day! Moreover, in May 2014, in recognition of the excellence of its health care system, Cuba chaired the 67th World Health Assembly [4]. [9] Ibid. Since 2005, it has graduated tens of thousands of doctors from low-income communities in the Americas (including the U.S.), Africa, and Asia. Henry Reeve brigadiers have assisted in disasters including the 2010 Port-au-Prince earthquake and the Ebola outbreaks of 2014. They provide general care for the entire family and are available at all times for emergencies, In addition to basic medical care, consultorios address basic mental health in the community, Each consultorio serves approximately 150-180 families, They collect basic health statistics and provide information to the Ministry of Health, Consultorios foster a sense of community and create a positive “health culture” in all people regardless of social status. These doctors are responsible for keeping track of every patient in the area; they determine who is healthy, who is sick, and who is at risk, as well as make rounds to ensure that everyone receives vaccines, prenatal care and other attention at the proper times. Contact: lamranisalim@yahoo.fr; Salim.Lamrani @ univ-reunion.fr Here’s how. For the same year, the World Bank reports that life expectancy rate in Cuba averaged 80 years, which compares well to the 75.4 years expected on average for Latin America and the Caribbean in that period. Consultorios serve as decentralized, front-line points of healthcare administration, and they strive to resolve around 80 percent of all cases. During her recent visit to Havana in July of 2014, Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), impressed by the country's achievements in this field, praised the Cuban health care system: "Cuba is the only country that has a health care system closely linked to research and development. His new book is The Economic War Against Cuba, New York, Monthly Review Press, 2013; prologue by Wayne S. Smith, foreword by Paul Estrade; translated by Larry R. Oberg. This creates a community-based teaching method rather than a typical hospital-based teaching method. Currently, nearly 30,000 Cuban medical staff are working in over 60 countries around the world. [11] Agencia Cubana de Noticias, "Cuba's LABIOFARM Launches Malaria Campaign in Western Africa," May 30, 2014. The curious case of cuba. The infant mortality rate in Cuba is lower than it is in the United States and is among the lowest in the world. Since 2005, it has sent over 7,000 brigadiers to twenty-one countries, serving over 3.5 million people in response to various disasters such as hurricanes, epidemics and earthquakes. High-quality, accessible healthcare for all citizens is one of the most important pillars of the Cuban Revolution. WHO notes that the lack of access to care in the world is by no means a foregone conclusion arising from a lack of resources. Cuba’s domestic production of medicines reduces the cost of importing the medicines from other countries, and additionally, exporting medicines supplied Cuba with some $686 million USD in income in 2013.

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