Difference Between Healthcare And Cuban Healthcare

As Americans, our views on healthcare are based on specific sets of narrow experiences. We might complain about long emergency wait times, lack of service to those without money, greedy insurance companies, and depending on our political allegiances, the massive healthcare overhaul that is currently taking place under the Obama administration. Despite the fact that most of us will end up practicing in that system, it is often instructive to take a step back and look at the healthcare systems of other nations, even systems in which we may not get a chance to practice; as future doctors, our responsibility is not just to serve our patients, but to implement changes in the way we deliver our services, especially when such changes are prudent and
I will briefly explain the systems of both countries, explore the similarities and differences between both, and finally give the lessons that I believe we can learn from both systems. Problems in healthcare delivery exist everywhere, but if Americans can incorporate ideas from other nations to better our own system, we may be able to build ourselves a more effective, efficient model to administer care. Cuban healthcare has traditionally been a taboo subject in the United States (as has Cuban anything). The Cuban healthcare system is similar to those of many social democracies (such as the UK and Canada), in that it is what is known as a single-payer system. In such a system, the government is the sole administrator of all healthcare services. Its single-payer system, however, is much more rigid than many others, in that it does not even allow for a private healthcare framework in the country. Since it is a communist nation, all healthcare is provided to its citizens completely free
Unlike in Cuba, where employment is guaranteed by the state, Jamaican unemployment is high (13.4%, as indicated by the most recent numbers) and a large portion of the population lives in poverty, with the average annual income being $6,660. The major sources of income are tourism and agriculture, but crime is rampant and many urban and rural areas are not well served by the government. The Jamaican healthcare system (known as the Healthcare Information System, or HIS), according to the WHO, is poorly planned and unresponsive; therefore, the massive advantage of the Cuban system, the central command structure and ability to reach all of its citizens, is lacking. In addition, large portions of the Jamaican public suffer from a lack of access to basic sanitation (only 42% in rural areas), and there is a shortage of healthcare professionals, since many leave the island, cannot afford education, or are not properly educated (contrast this with Cuba, which provides many incentives for students to study medicine, including paying students’ fees and providing a modest stipend; its most famous medical school, ELAM, is world renowned and trains medical students from many of the world’s nations). The average life expectancy of Jamaicans is