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Cuba has one of the highest ratios of doctors in the world, with about 8.4 doctors per 1,000 people. This compares with 2.6 in the US and 4.1 in Italy.
Cuba spends 23% of its national budget on health and 30% on education. At the same time, its international medical assistance services account for 46% of its exports and 6% of its GDP (in 2019 alone). This mechanism has brought brilliant achievements to the health sector of this Caribbean island nation.
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Cuban doctors care for patients. Source: Cubadebate |
Doctors in Cuba are the most dedicated in the world
In recent years, Cuba has become a destination for many tourists. In addition to the simple need to visit, many of them have combined it with medical services such as cosmetic surgery, rehabilitation after accidents...
Mr. Gonzalos Ramos (a tourist from Venezuela), who was paralyzed after a traffic accident, said he was able to move his limbs and take care of himself after being treated at La Pradera nursing home (in a residential area west of La Habana) for only 2 months.
Meanwhile, after having his left eye's retina transplanted due to a firework injury, Carlos Armando (a tourist from Mexico) has been praising the talent of Cuban doctors as well as the quality of care and the complete infrastructure of a clinic specializing in eye surgeries in the center of La Habana.
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Medical staff visit each household to conduct an epidemiological investigation in La Habana, Cuba. Photo: VNA |
Medical tourism is a major source of foreign currency for Cuba, with thousands of Latin Americans and Europeans traveling to Cuba, attracted by the good reputation of its doctors, low prices and its resort beaches.
Most people who have been treated in Cuba say that doctors here are some of the most dedicated in the world. And although the salary is not high, this is a profession that every student desires and is respected by society. In 2014, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan praised Cuba as a world leader in the field of health, not only because of the quality and scale of health care for its people but also because of its health systems that are strongly linked to research and innovation (InterNations reported).
Meanwhile, Business Insider quoted former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during a visit to Cuba, praising the Caribbean island nation's health care system as "a model for many countries".
Pioneer in the Covid-19 pandemic
Despite its economic difficulties, Cuba has sent over 124,000 medical professionals to provide care to 154 countries. Cuba welcomes over 20,000 students from other countries to study medicine at the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana.
In particular, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, when countries around the world, including superpowers such as the US, China, Russia, etc., are struggling with a shortage of medical personnel, Cuba has sent a medical force to more than 20 developing countries such as Mozambique, South Africa, Mexico, etc. and developed countries such as Italy, Canada, etc. through medical aid programs.
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Medical staff transfer a Covid-19 patient (in Rome, Italy, March 16, 2020). Photo: VNA |
During the tense time of Covid-19, despite the geographical distance, Cuba sent a team of medical experts to Vietnam to support the fight against the epidemic in Da Nang City. At the same time, it donated thousands of vials of Interferon anti-Covid-19 medicine produced by Cuba. The Vietnamese government also supported tens of thousands of tons of rice and a large amount of medical supplies to Cuba, including rapid diagnostic kits, medical masks, protective clothing and some medicines.
Referring to the Vietnam-Cuba relationship, Ambassador of the Republic of Cuba Orlando Nicolás Hernández Guillén believes that the close support and cooperation will help the two countries succeed in the fight against the epidemic, and at the same time become a new symbolic milestone in the history of relations between the two countries.
Cuba is also the first country in the world to officially launch a mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign for children from 2 years old. The country has also made many new advances in biotechnology when successfully producing antiviral drugs such as Interferon Alpha 2B to fight Covid-19. At the same time, there are 21 products being used to fight viruses, antiarrhythmic drugs and antibiotics.
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Cuban medical students. Source: AP |
Not only has Cuba defeated Covid-19, but its universal vaccination programs and other universal healthcare have almost eradicated diseases such as polio, rubella, tuberculosis, chickenpox, etc. In particular, the superiority of Cuba's free healthcare system is also demonstrated by the country's completion of stem cell therapy, a modern method capable of treating many incurable diseases in all localities.
“Cuba is one of the few countries in the world where the rate of stem cell treatment exceeds 1 per 100,000 inhabitants,” said Dr. Porfirio Hernandez Ramirez, coordinator of the Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy Group of the Cuban Ministry of Health.
Health care is the right of every citizen.
According to Business Insider, Cuba considers access to healthcare a basic right of all citizens. Therefore, the public healthcare system in Cuba serves all citizens free of charge. Private hospitals, private clinics, or private medical facilities do not exist.
The government runs all health facilities and services. Dental care, drug delivery, and even home visits are all part of this system, which emphasizes the motto “prevention is better than cure.”
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