By The Mast April 8, 2020. SOCIALIST Party president Fred M’membe says health is a human right and every Zambian should have the information and services they need to take care of their own health and that of their families. He regrets that great majority of Zambians, especially those in rural areas, do not receive the health services they need. Dr M’membe said many Zambians were pushed into extreme poverty each year because “of out-of-pocket spending on health.”
He said this in a statement to mark World Health Day, which fell yesterday. Dr M’membe noted that the world had observed this year’s health day in the midst of a very serious global pandemic – the coronavirus.
“This pandemic reminds us that health is a human right; and it is time for health for every Zambian, for every human being,” he said, adding that quality, accessible primary healthcare was the foundation for universal health coverage. “Unsafe and low-quality health care ruins lives.” Dr M’membe said primary health care should be the first level of contact with the health system, where individuals, families and communities receive most of their healthcare from promotion and prevention to treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care – “as close as possible to where they live and work.”
At its heart, Dr M’membe said, primary healthcare was about caring for people and helping them improve their health or maintain their well-being, rather than just treating a single disease or condition. He explained that primary healthcare covered the majority of people’s health needs throughout their life, including services like screening for health problems, vaccines, information on how to prevent disease, family planning, treatment for long- and short- term conditions, coordination with other levels of care, and rehabilitation.
“Primary healthcare is a cost-effective and equitable way of delivering health services. We believe and know that universal health coverage is possible. And it’s our collective duty to struggle for it and make it happen in our homeland and the whole world!” Dr M’membe said. “Universal health coverage means that every Zambian has access to the quality health services she or he needs, when and where she or he needs them, without financial hardship.”
Dr M’membe noted that to make health for all a reality, “we need skilled health workers providing quality, people-centred care and policy-makers committed to investing in primary healthcare.”
He said socialist parties and governments took a lead in the world in struggling for and providing healthcare for all. “Universal healthcare is possible, only with public healthcare delivery. When it comes to healthcare, profit should not be placed over people,” Dr M’membe said. “Profit should never come before people’s needs. We must stop this; we must change this. We need universal access to quality public healthcare, free at the point of service.” He said quality healthcare delivery required decent work for health workers.
Dr M’membe added that on World Health Day, it was imperative to remember Comandante Fidel Castro’s great contribution to the global public health.
“Fidel not only led exemplary initiatives to ensure healthcare for all within Cuba, but also ensured that Cuban doctors were the first to reach out to people in other countries, especially developing countries, during natural disasters,” Dr M’membe said. “Under Fidel, Cuban medical scientists also developed cutting-edge measures to combat diseases, ranging from meningitis to cancers.”
He believes that across the political spectrum, few would dispute the outstanding successes the Cuban healthcare system has achieved under the Revolution. Dr M’membe added that Fidel consistently promoted advances in primary healthcare, public health, medical education and research.
“These include establishing a widespread network of public hospitals and community-based clinics, emphasising on preventive and promotive health measures, and building a unique system for training of doctors and healthcare professionals,” he explained. “Fidel supported the creation of the family doctor-and-nurse programme since the 1980s, ensuring that every neighbourhood of Cuba had access to primary healthcare. Small wonder, the country’s infant mortality rate stands at 4.2 per 1,000 – the lowest in Latin America and even lower than the rate in the United States – even though its per capita healthcare spending is just a fraction of that of the United States.”
Dr M’membe also noted that Cuba had taken healthcare beyond its borders by sending its doctors and health workers to help deprived populations in developing countries during emergency since 1963.
He said today, over 30,000 Cuban healthcare workers, dubbed “army of white coats”, worked in more than 60 countries. Dr M’membe recalled that Cuban doctors were the first to reach the remote areas of northern Pakistan that suffered extensive damage during the 2005 earthquake. “Over 2,500 Cuban medics saved lives by conducting operations on injured people even in extremely difficult conditions,” he said. “During the Ebola epidemic in Western Africa, the Cuban medical contingent was the largest foreign medical team from any country, providing care to people in Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia. Now they are in Italy risking their lives in the fight against the coronavirus.”
Dr M’membe quoted former United Nations (UN) secretary general Ban Ki-moon who, about Cuban doctors, said: “They are always the first to arrive and the last to leave.” “They remain in place after the crises. Cuba can be proud of its healthcare system, a model for many countries,” Dr M’membe quoted Ki-moon.
Meanwhile, Dr M’membe indicated that Cuba under Fidel’s leadership founded the Latin American School of Medicine in 1999, which has trained around 30,000 physicians from over a 100 countries. “Indeed, if there is one developing country in the world today which stands out for its contributions to global health, it is Cuba,” said Dr M’membe. “While Fidel is no more among us, we are confident that the sound foundations he has laid for public health will last for long and remain an inspiration to those of us committed to people’s health.”