The United States could learn a thing or two from Cuba's healthcare system, some experts say, particularly as U.S. policymakers delve into healthcare reform.
Although Cuba probably isn't the first thing to pop into most Americans' minds when they picture efficient healthcare, the small country challenges stereotypes of healthcare in poor regions, said Paul Farmer, a professor of medical anthropologies at Harvard Medical School. "The most important contribution that Cuba's given to global healthcare is (an) example -- the idea that you can introduce the notion of broad healthcare and wipe out the diseases of poverty," Farmer said in "Salud!," a recently released documentary about Cuba's healthcare system.
"Cuba has managed to do a great deal in terms of health status with comparatively few resources," Keck said at a panel discussion hosted by The Rockefeller Foundation and The Atlantic Philanthropies.
In fact, data from the World Health Organization shows little difference in health benchmarks between the United States and Cuba.
In part, these similarities between data reflect the high degree of health disparity in the United States that creates a wide gap between the health outcomes for the rich and those for the poor, Keck said.
Although average health outcomes in the two countries may be similar, when it comes to cost, the numbers don't even come close.
While the United States spent $6,094 per person per year in 2004, or 15.4 percent of its gross domestic product, Cuba spent only $229 per person, or 6.3 percent of GDP.
Cuba operates on a socialized medicine system, providing free healthcare to all citizens, and relies heavily on manpower to keep its system alive. Having enough doctors and nurses is essential, because they compensate for a lack of equipment and shortages of pharmaceuticals, said Fitzhugh Mullan, head professor of medicine and health policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services.
"Cuba has a workforce of more than 60,000, which makes it one of the best resourced countries in the world," Mullan said.
This large workforce -- almost double the number of physicians per capita in the United States -- allows for personalized care administered by doctors who live in the communities they serve. Most family physicians spend the afternoons making home visits, teaching in the community and holding public health events.
In an attempt to introduce some of the benefits of the Cuban approach to medicine into the United States, one non-profit organization helps U.S. students receive their medical training in Cuba. The students receive a full scholarship from the Cuban government on the condition that they work in a poor community in the United States upon graduation.
"Tomorrow is graduation day for the first batch of (eight) U.S. students," said Gail Reed, international director of the Medical Education Cooperation with Cuba. source: UPI
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