World-class Cuban health care

with the debut of michael moore's "SiCKO" coming june 29, a look at cuban health care seems in order...

maybe i'm just perverse, but i really like to see good news coming out of cuba, particularly when it's of the kind that builds understanding and better relationships with the people of the u.s...

[A]bout 90 young people from poor parts of the United States have joined the ranks of international students studying medicine in Cuba.

The offer of medical training is just one way Cuba has reached out to the United States. Immediately after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 1,500 Cuban doctors volunteered to come to the Gulf Coast. They waited with packed bags and medical supplies, and a ship ready to provide backup support. Permission from the U.S. government never arrived.

"Our government played politics with the lives of people when they needed help the most," said [Representative Bennie Thompson of Mississippi]. "And that's unfortunate."

cuba's medical and healthcare system is making an impact around the world...

[D]isaster assistance is part of Cuba's medical aid mission that has extended from Peru to Indonesia, and even included caring for 17,000 children sickened by the 1986 accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the Ukraine.

It isn't only in times of disaster that Cuban health care workers get involved. Some 29,000 Cuban health professionals are now practicing in 69 countries -- mostly in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa. In Venezuela, about 20,000 of them have enabled President Hugo Chávez to make good on his promise to provide health care to the poor. In the shantytowns around Caracas and the banks of the Amazon, those who organize themselves and find a place for a doctor to practice and live can request a Cuban doctor.

As in Cuba, these doctors and nurses live where they serve, and become part of the community. They are available for emergencies, and they introduce preventative health practices.

the more important thing is that it's not only working, it's working well, it's highly cost efficient, and is offered for free...

The Cuban health care system is producing a population that is as healthy as those of the world's wealthiest countries at a fraction of the cost.

[...]

Everyone has access to doctors, nurses, specialists, and medications. There is a doctor and nurse team in every neighborhood, although somewhat fewer now, with 29,000 medical professionals serving out of the country -- a fact that is causing some complaints. If someone doesn't like their neighborhood doctor, they can choose another one.

House calls are routine, in part because it's the responsibility of the doctor and nurse team to understand you and your health issues in the context of your family, home, and neighborhood. This is key to the system. By catching diseases and health hazards before they get big, the Cuban medical system can spend a little on prevention rather than a lot later on to cure diseases, stop outbreaks, or cope with long-term disabilities. When a health hazard like dengue fever or malaria is identified, there is a coordinated nationwide effort to eradicate it. Cubans no longer suffer from diphtheria, rubella, polio, or measles and they have the lowest AIDS rate in the Americas, and the highest rate of treatment and control of hypertension.

there is a key difference in the underlying drivers of the cuban health care system and the u.s. health care system... in cuba, the HEALTH of ALL the people is the principal priority and, in the u.s., despite the glossy mission statements prominently displayed in the annual reports of all the big health care corporations, the health of ALL the people is simply NOT the priority... when that priority is placed first, and is both taken seriously and acted upon, it changes everything...

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