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Healthcare: United States and Cuba

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Healthcare: United States and Cuba
Healthcare: United States and Cuban
As years go by the human life span increases. Technology and knowledge come together to provide healthcare that can help maintain a healthy lifestyle. Though developed countries have excellent resources to maintain health, many developing countries such as Cuba have only a limited resource. Although the U.S. is dependent on more healthcare professionals as a whole there are many physicians well equipped to provide services to their patients. Healthcare professionals in Cuba lack the resources needed to provide the best healthcare to citizens. Because of this though Cubans live a healthier lifestyle than Americans health is still an issue. Many people cannot afford healthcare in Cuba, which is also an issue in the U.S., and programs for personal health are not available. In both the U.S. and Cuba some government assistance is provided but not all citizens benefit much from it. Approaching the problems of healthcare and adjusting them may be difficult but it is important for society.
For citizens in America, the day to day lifestyle plays a strong role in personal health. The daily affairs of Americans are in most part set to a specific schedule. There is a set time for which a person must show up for work or for a student to attend class. This lifestyle causes people to adjust according to their convenience, in one way by selecting fast and convenient food choices. Not much family time is spent on the preparation and consumption of meals, and Americans overall lack basic cooking skills and nutritional knowledge (King, and Hayes 28). This factor, along with the lack of physical activity, explains why most Americans develop cardiovascular disease. Americans are provided with access to different means to acquire a healthy lifestyle that many citizens of other developing countries do not have (Mechanic, and Rochefort 249). Although many services are provided in the U.S for healthcare many people neglect the opportunities and



Cited: Cooper, RS “Public Health Matters. Cardiovascular Disease and Associated Risk Factors in Cuba: Prospects for Prevention and Control.” American Journal of Public Health 96.1 (2006): 94-101 Web. 28 Sep 2009. . Ford, Omar. "Countries View Their Healthcare as Superior to the U.S. System." Medical Device Daily 13.156 (2009): 1-7. Web. 7 Oct 2009. . King, Nancy, and Dayle Hayes. "Shame, Blame, and the 'War on Childhood Obesity ': Confronting the Real Problems, Identifying the Positive Solutions." Healthy Weight Journal Apr 2003: 28. Web. 12 Oct 2009. . Lasser, Karen, Steffie Woolhandler, and David Himmelstein. "Sources of U.S. Physician Income: The Contribution of Government Payments to the Specialist–Generalist Income Gap.” JGIM: Journal of General Internal Medicine 23.9 (2008): 1477-81. Web. 20 Oct 2009. . Mechanic, David, and David A. Rochefort. "Comparative Medical Systems." Annual Review of Sociology 22. (1996): 239-70. Web. 3 Oct 2009. . Panter-Brick, Catherine. "Street Children, Human Rights, and Public Health: A Critique and Future Directions." Annual Review of Anthropology 31. (2002): 147-71. Web. 3 Oct 2009. . "Controlling high US healthcare costs imperative." PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News 17 Dec 2005: 5-5. Web. 12 Oct 2009. . “Cuban Health Crisis.” Modern Healthcare 27.10 (1997): 60-60. Web. 28 Sep 2009 . "(FUNDING) Obama Suggests Significant Cuts to Medicare & Medicaid.” Children & Youth Funding Report 26 Jun 2009: 17-17. Web. 7 Oct 2009. . "The U.S. Healthcare System: Best in the World or Just the Most Expensive?" New England Journal of Medicine 324. (1991): 2. Web. 12 Oct 2009. .

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