Castrocare

I had a wonderful week helping deliver medical supplies to hospitals in Camaguey, Cuba. I met so many dedicated healthcare professionals, well-trained and working hard for an average monthly salary that approximates $25 US dollars. One of Cuba’s main industries is training and exporting physicians, it has a higher physician-patient ratio and lower child mortality than the United States, a life expectancy of 77 years, and an intact public health and primary care system that emphasizes prevention. However, many of the acute care hospitals we visited were in poor repair and were frustratingly low on essential supplies and simple technology.

But rather than go on about the Cuban healthcare system as if I know what I’m talking about after one short week, I’ll link to an excellent recent article by Laurie Garrett. We were not in Havana to see the Clínica Central Cira García that she describes, but the rest of what she writes is in line with my observations and with what I heard from the physicians I spoke with there.

Castrocare in Crisis, by Laurie Garrett