Cuba Still Unparalelled In Health Care
Health care remains an utmost priority for the government and people of the Republic of Cuba and they continue to do their best to assist other countries in developing and maintaining the best health systems.
Cuba considers public health a fundamental right and a responsibility of the State.
Unlike many other countries, considered more developed and with much more resources, the Cuban National Health System provides care without discrimination of any kind, based on Primary Health Care and with community and intersectoral participation.
The mere idea put forward by some, including media entities right here in Grenada that Cuba provides sub-standard health practitioners and health services to other countries is ridiculous and deceitful.
Media houses, when they are provided with this kind of information by elements with their own agendas have a responsibility to as journalists to check with Cuban and other authority sources before publishing.
Cuba is without doubt, recognized for the high quality of its public health system, with universal coverage and free care. There are 486, 900 workers in the national health system of whom 101, 876 are medical doctors and 9.2 doctors for each 1000 residents.
This is the most favourable indication of its kind at the international level. The United States for example, has 2.4 medical doctors per 1000 residents.
The Cuban immunization programme protects children against 13 diseases through the application of 11 vaccines, 8 of them national production, which has a profound impact on the quality of life of children.
The emphasis that Cuba puts into the health of its children and indeed all of its citizens is unparalleled anywhere in the world. Fourteen communicable diseases have been eliminated and nine others do not constitute health problems. Cuba has long practiced international solidarity in the field of medical collaboration; more than 59 years. During that time, it has worked in 165 countries, with more than 605,000 collaborators. This has benefited more than 2 billion people worldwide.
At present Cuban doctors are collaborating in 56 nations with more than 23 thousand collaborators.
Grenada is one of the countries benefiting from this collaboration and has been for a long time. One shudders to thing where the Grenada health system would have been without the continued support of the Republic of Cuba. We should be careful not to allow some proclaimed doctor, with questionable motives to scar this arrangement by baselessly demonize the Cuban health system and the doctors that have been assigned to our country.
Media practitioners should be careful about knowingly or unknowingly collaborating with these elements whose objectives cannot mean well for this country.
Information on Cuba’s achievements in preserving the health of its people and peoples around the world is easily available with a little research.