Healthcare in Socialist Cuba:
When Fidel Castro led the people’s revolution to victory in 1959 he assured all Cubans that the new government would provide healthcare for every individual. Building a quality universal healthcare system was a long-term project. However, recent statistics reveal that the government made good on its promise. The Cuban healthcare system is probably the most respected public health system in the world. It is valued by the Cubans who use it, studied by the British who wish to emulate it, and envied by more than 40 million working-class Americans who lack health insurance and struggle for a system of healthcare with similar benefits. A healthcare system of this magnitude did not occur by accident in Cuba. In fact, based upon the economic difficulties that Cuba faces, caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the United States’ blockade, most analysts would not suspect that the struggling country would have the resources necessary to provide quality healthcare for all its citizens. Cuba’s healthcare system is a logical feature of their socialist system that emphasizes public control of the means of production, shared ownership of resources, and universal access to human services. Socialism, being a more humane and rational system than capitalism, has allowed Cuba to provide a more humane and rational healthcare system than any other country.
Cuba’s healthcare system emphasizes several fundamental and democratic features. It is a socialized system of medicine, organized by the government. The system’s services are accessible to the entire population at no cost to the individual. The system is patient-centered with a strong emphasis on public participation. Finally, the emphasis on prevention has made Cuba’s system not only effective but also efficient. The system has been able to cut waste by preventing illnesses, therefore eliminating the need for costly and unnecessary treatment. The Cuban government has accomplished this on an island where only 45 years ago barely eight percent of the remote rural population could obtain access to healthcare.
The benefits of this system, in terms of better health for the Cuban people, are clear. Cuba has a life expectancy of over 76 years compared to 60 years for the regional average. The Cuban infant mortality rate is less than seven deaths per 1,000 live births compared to a regional average of 30 deaths per every 1,000 live births. Cuba by far has the highest physician to patient ratio of any country. Cuba has 346 physicians per 100,000 patients compared to 215 per 100,000 in the United States and 250 per 100,000 in France. Cuba has 21 technologically advanced medical schools that train doctors to practice over 54 fields of medicine. Whether it is ensuring a safe birth for every child, a long and happy life for every adult, or quality patient-centered care for all the years in between, Cuba has overcome expectation and developed a prized system of universal healthcare.
For as long as Cuba is socialist, its people will not have to make the inhumane decision of providing food for the whole family or getting life-saving treatment for an individual family member. Healthcare is by no means revolutionary Cuba’s only accomplishment. However, it is a hallmark of the success the socialist system represents for the country’s people. Workers and doctors in every country can take inspiration from Cuba’s model healthcare system, that a universal system of efficient quality healthcare is available for the people of all countries.
Boseley, Sarah, "Britain Studies Cuban Healthcare System", The Guardian, 2, Oct. 2000.
Healy, Dr. Bernadine, "Out of the Insurance Maze", U.S. News & World Report, 14, Oct. 2002
Reed, Gail, "Cuba's 30-Year Track Record In Community-Based Health Care", MEDICC Review, Aug. 1999
World Bank, World Development Indicators, 2001
