06/09/14

Health Care Reform

          Under the Batista regime, health care was very poor.[1] When Castro’s regime took over the Cuban government, health care was declared a revolutionary right. In 1961, the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution was established to help implement social policies of the new government and health care was at the top of the revolutionary’s list. Municipal assemblies also have a great deal to do with how property and services are administered throughout the country. The Soviet Union had a similar program, but nothing near as powerful as the Cubans. These municipal assemblies were mainly concerned with health care.[2]

          Despite the United States’ best efforts to attempt a slow down in Cuban development, Cuba’s health care system has advanced greatly since the revolution and is one of the best health care systems in the world.[3] In 1999, the average life expectancy was seventy-five years on average (seventy-three years for men, seventy-seven years for women) and the infant mortality rate dropped from 11.1 per one thousand in 1989 to 6.4 per one thousand.[4]  Pope John Paul II’s visit to Cuba also helped open the door for humanitarian aid from the United States and loosened restriction for licensing non-profit organizations to sell prescription drugs to Cuba.[5]

[1] (post under health care)

"200 million children in the world sleep in the streets today.  Not one of them is Cuban."

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This site was last updated 06/04/14