Encuentro 6: Cuban Healthcare

CUBAN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM - DR. BARBARA ROMEO

In this talk we can see the community values shine through in the healthcare system with the fact that the doctors live within their community to be better equipped to serve them with a more personal touch. Family doctors are more abundant since education makes it easier for people to afford to become health care workers. The healthcare system is also completely free and covered by the state which means there's less financial burden on the population if they become sick. In the previous years, prior to the revolution the access to health care was influenced by social class and many hospitals were underfunded. The frequency in which doctors see their patients was especially different than here in Canada as waiting time to see a doctor is often very long. Dr. Barabara made it a point to say that during the pandemic, the healthcare workers have continued to be very hands on with their approach and directly informing people of covid and the precautions to take. It is safe to assume that this would help with reassuring the population and stop the spread of misinformation through panic. It is interesting to see how, in the groups of medical experts that visit households, psychologists were also included during this pandemic to take care of people's mental health.

Additionally, Dr. Barbara stated that Cuba’s health care system is characterized by distinct levels of care that offers its patients a higher-quality and more accessible medical management, an important pillar of the revolution. We learned that these different levels are:

Primary level of care

Family doctors, clinics, and polyclinics (Family doctor are assigned to an area) Secondary level of care

Hospitals, centers of medical specialization Tertiary level of care

Specialized- supervised institutions

The levels of care also specializes in different programs such as the monitoring of the International Travelers Program, Sexually Transmitted Program, Cancer Program (prostate cancer, breast cancer, colon cancer, cervix cancer...) and the Vaccination Program - Covid-19. Through the same system, the health care department separates their patients by groups; People who have a very active sexual life; Patients with chronic disease such as hypertension and diabetes (Seen every 3 to 4 times a year); Individuals with disabilities because of an accident (seen 3 times a year).

On the flip side of this encuentro, it would have been relevant to learn more about the improvements that the healthcare system would benefit from since there is always room for improvement.

Internationally, we learned that the TCP (American trade) has enabled the Latin countries including Cuba to support each other as a way to get over the blockade before and during the pandemic by exchanging health care services in exchange for material goods, medicine, and equipment. 8