I’ve seen a lot of cynical responses to this. People are quick to forget that Cuba’s healthcare system & medical research are world leading. They have far more physicians per person than any other country in the world [0].
[0] https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/29/world/americas/brazil-cub...
The parable of Mussolini and the trains running on time was however such justification. I.e. “Mussolini’s fascist regime can be excused by the fact that he got the trains running on time”. Some people might be of the opinion that “Cuba’s authoritarian government can be excused by the fact that their healthcare system is successful“, but that is not the sentiment I’m getting from the posts here. Particularly not from your GP.
Well, not to excuse the dictatorship in Cuba, but there is the small issue with embargo and trade restrictions the US places on that particular one. Theoretically, medicine is exempt, but in practice it isn't: https://medicc.org/ns/documents/The_impact_of_the_U.S._Embar...
Furthermore, take a look at the many countries which have trade with Cuba [0]. Their problem is mostly self-created through their monetary policy and the severe restrictions entrepreneurial Cubans face. The Castrista government must have its hands on every little thing that generates money. The slightest deviation from the party line results in significant punishment including prison.
[0] https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/isdb_results/factsheets/country...
So a bit like the US having their military all over the planet to show the world how high their military spending per capita is?
> Ask the many Cubans in exile, how often they have to send life saving medication to their families on the island.
No offense, but people living in exile from regimes they disagree with, are very likely not exactly the most unbiased people on the issue, often having a lot of emotional baggage on the topic.
Case in point: One could also ask the many Cubans not in exile about their views and opinions. Why shouldn't those matter also?
I'm not sure what physicians per capita has to do with the quality of their healthcare system and research. Is Bhutan the world leader in agriculture? They have more farmers per capita than anywhere in the world.
China alone has 7.
There's 18 vaccines already authorized for use in various places around the world. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_vaccine#List_of_autho...
https://www.businessinsider.com/china-vaccines-questioned-af...
China may have 7, but are they as effective as they claim?
Either way, there's 11 other vaccines in use that aren't Chinese, still more than 5.
USA, by comparison, has 1,861 deaths per 1M population. They are one of the worst 20 countries.
Their resistance about importing vaccines can be debated, and may not reflect the quality of their health care, being mostly a political decision.
Where are you getting this number from? Any numbers coming from the Cuban government have to be treated as unreliable, as it is common practice to restrict doctors from what can be reported, unless they want to lose their license.
Governments with the same governance structure as Cuba (Vietnam, China) have been achieving even better numbers, despite lifting all measures and being full of foreigners. Because of this I expect actual evidence the data is false.
> Cuba’s reaction to the coronavirus threat was swift. A “prevention and control” plan, prepared in January 2020, included training medical staff, preparing medical and quarantine facilities, and informing the public (including tourism workers) about symptoms and precautions. So, when the first three reported cases were confirmed on March 11, arrangements were in place to trace and isolate contacts, mobilise medical students for nationwide door-to-door surveys to identify vulnerable people and check for symptoms, and roll out a testing programme.
[1] https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-response-why-cuba-is...
Perhaps human nature is that people actually do useful work in some conditions when allowed to?
Or are you arguing that keeping people in a state of poverty is a good way to motivate their altruistic tendencies?
The only countries next to Cuba that are richer are the US, the Cayman, and the Bahamas.
Two of those don't even have enough population to make it into the 100 biggest cities.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/802613/gross-domestic-pr...
Then you find 20-26k USD.
The CIA estimates it at $12k. At $26k USD it would have a standard of living similar to Russia, Turkey or Greece. Which it most certainly does not.
Citation needed. You can't just make up your own GDP figures.
If you look at most good and great novel drugs and madical devices, they mostly are designed and made in the US or Europe. Mostly US.
Citation needed!
And then poor countries enjoy the cheap generic versions of these drugs, basically subsidized by the US.
https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-1a70c72f3bbb329d1dfee4...
Does the chart you link say anything about generic versions?
Additionally, where is Cuba on this chart? Does a new, poorly performing pill (eg: a failed heart drug resubmitted to the FDA as an ED pill) counts as a newly discovered medication?
https://www.ineteconomics.org/perspectives/blog/how-cuba-bec...
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/infant-mortalit...
Life expectancy in Cuba is higher than that of the US (72.5 vs. 71.9). Health workers have eliminated polio, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and diphtheria. Malnutrition incidence amount 1-15 years olds is 0.7% compared with 5% in the US[0]
[0]https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2315760/#:~:text=Life%20expe....
And no, it is not easier to provide better healthcare, even without doing the R&D.A higher GDP is what enables better provision of healthcare and the US has the highest GDP and is in the top 10 per capita, Cuba is at 87th.
They're both basically similar in both years, which is astounding given the vastly higher material wealth of the US.
Nice to know that both have increased a lot since 1990, though! I thought 72 sounded a bit young.
All science is based on the work of others, and it always has been.
I see a little chicken and egg problem here. This reminds of Stephen J. Gould’s Mismeasure of a Man. People would say that intelligence could be seen by measuring the size of the skull—knowing off course before hand that white people had the largest skull—and hence were the most intelligent (!) Until of course they actually measured the skulls properly, and found out it wasn’t any bigger, then they just moved on to the next metric that conveniently showed that white people were more intelligent.