Cuba's World-Class Healthcare System

24-hour state-covered dental care. 1 doctor for every 600 citizens. No citizen more than 20 minutes from a consultorio clinic with a resident doctor and nurse (that often visits you at home, unannounced). American embargoes contribute to a balanced diet. Lowest infant mortality, second only to Canada. Total annual care paid per citizen: $251. Doctors-in-training come from all over the world to do residency in this world-class medical system.
Full report on BBC’s Newsnight.

What if we considered the physical and mental health of our citizenry as vital to a happy, healthy, productive workforce? What if re-training an entire generation for a world post-manufacturing was a matter of national security?


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2 responses to “Cuba's World-Class Healthcare System”

  1. Dan Avatar

    While I agree with your larger point – before we go praising Cuba’s healthcare too much, remember that part of their system includes the isolation of HIV and AIDS patients into, basically, concentration camps. (At least, that was true a couple years ago. I haven’t heard anything about it changing.)

  2. Andy Avatar
    Andy

    Well I guess that’s one way to do it. From the Journal of American Medicical Association:

    In 1986, 1 year after documenting its first case of AIDS, Cuba instituted the world’s only mandatory quarantine policy for people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection.

    then

    In 2002, the Cuban government reported an HIV prevalence of 0.03%, nearly 11 times lower than that in the United States.

    and now

    Although residence in HIV sanatoriums is no longer mandatory for HIV-positive Cubans, Cuba continues to rely on the sanatorium system as transitional counseling and care facilities.

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