Cuban Health System
Prior to Castro’s government, the public health sector in Cuba was extremely flawed due to political instability, corruption, and violence (Hirschfeld, 2006). Under Batista, the health care system was privatized and although Cuba had well trained doctors, many Cubans were at a disadvantage. Majority of the health care facilities and services were located in the cities, hence leaving those in the rural areas without easy access to health care. (Curious Case of Cuba) As part of being a government with socialist ideals, one of the first public health reforms was to nationalize the healthcare system and make accessible health care a basic human right. This said, health care delivery would be the responsibility of the state, and preventative and
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Although hospitals were being built in rural areas, and physicians were being sent there, people complained that the wait at the hospitals were extremely long, and as a result, many still did not get the care that they needed. Seeing this, Cuba introduced the community-based health system in 1974 (Curious Case of Cuba). Under this system, health centers known as poly clinics were created in order to serve in specific neighborhoods as opposed to one large area. According to Whiteford and Branch, “municipal polyclinics became the core of the nascent PHC (Primary Health Care) model” (Whiteford & Branch, 2008). They typically provided primary health care services to 25,000-30,000 people (Latridis, 1995). They were staffed with specialists such as a pediatricians, social workers, OBGYN, a nurse, and a general practice physician. The health care services they provided ranged from going to neighborhoods and homes, to workplaces and child care centers.(Whiteford & Branch, 2008). They provided health screenings, and also organized blood drives, vaccination campaigns neighborhood clean up activities (Whiteford & Branch, 2008). What made the poly clinics unique was that the health workers there not only provided health services, they learned about the health, social, cultural and economic backgrounds of the neighborhoods they worked with. The poly clinics became teaching sites and their goals inspired revisions to the Cuban medical school and training curriculum (Curious Case of Cuba). This way, they would be able to tailor their provision of primary health care more to their area (Latridis,
Although hospitals were being built in rural areas, and physicians were being sent there, people complained that the wait at the hospitals were extremely long, and as a result, many still did not get the care that they needed. Seeing this, Cuba introduced the community-based health system in 1974 (Curious Case of Cuba). Under this system, health centers known as poly clinics were created in order to serve in specific neighborhoods as opposed to one large area. According to Whiteford and Branch, “municipal polyclinics became the core of the nascent PHC (Primary Health Care) model” (Whiteford & Branch, 2008). They typically provided primary health care services to 25,000-30,000 people (Latridis, 1995). They were staffed with specialists such as a pediatricians, social workers, OBGYN, a nurse, and a general practice physician. The health care services they provided ranged from going to neighborhoods and homes, to workplaces and child care centers.(Whiteford & Branch, 2008). They provided health screenings, and also organized blood drives, vaccination campaigns neighborhood clean up activities (Whiteford & Branch, 2008). What made the poly clinics unique was that the health workers there not only provided health services, they learned about the health, social, cultural and economic backgrounds of the neighborhoods they worked with. The poly clinics became teaching sites and their goals inspired revisions to the Cuban medical school and training curriculum (Curious Case of Cuba). This way, they would be able to tailor their provision of primary health care more to their area (Latridis,