Cuba's healthcare system has been described by the United Nations as exemplary. Cuba has a large number of doctors, 2.4 per 1,000 people in the United States and 6.7 in Cuba; a life expectancy of 79 years, compared to 78 in the United States; and a mortality rate of 6 per 1,000 children under the age of 5, compared to 8 in the United States.
Another important reason why Cuban health care can be called a global model is that it is very low-cost, at 5 percent of the cost in the United States. But that doesn't stop Cuba from providing free health care to the entire country.
Cuba's primary care organization is the family doctor's clinic, which typically has one room with a general practitioner and one or two nurses. The clinics are located in residential neighborhoods, and the doctor's home is in or near the community. The doctor is familiar with the patient, and there is a harmonious relationship between the doctor and the patient.
The main duty of the family doctor is not to cure, but to prevent. In prevention, the family doctor reaps the gratitude and trust of the community and is respected. It is a career that many young people enjoy.
Family doctors are general practitioners, and the upper level of medical care is the community polyclinic, which serves the equivalent of 15-40 family doctors. The community polyclinics are set up with a variety of specialists to provide 7*24 hour medical services.
Cuba has long been sanctioned by the U.S. and has economic difficulties, making it difficult to purchase medical equipment, but they put family doctors at the grassroots level to prevent illnesses, prevent minor illnesses from becoming major ones, and the doctors have a good understanding of the health of each resident. Because of the shortage of medical equipment, although it is easy to see a doctor in Cuba, it is difficult to do all kinds of medical examinations.
Doctors are Cuba's calling card, all free for nationals, but high for foreigners. This has given rise to the Cuban specialty of "medical tourism". Many foreigners come to Cuba to travel to see the doctor, creating a lot of foreign exchange. One thing to note is that although it is "high-priced charges", but still much cheaper than in Europe and the United States.
A sufficient number of doctors allows Cuba to send doctors abroad to generate foreign exchange. For example, Cuba has sent medical teams to Venezuela in exchange for large quantities of oil, which is in short supply.
Cuban medical capacity, but also prosperous pharmaceutical industry. Cuba's pharmaceuticals are already a leading industry, generating foreign exchange from exports well beyond cigars and helping to upgrade the country's industry. Because of the efficiency and quality of research and development experiments, Cuban pharmaceuticals are very fast.
After the liberalization of the Cuban economy, a large number of high-end talents have turned to foreign-related work, but few doctors have quit their jobs. There are three main reasons for this: the first is that each family doctor can be allocated a house in the community where they work, so that they can be close to the clinic. This is a unique benefit for doctors. The second is the long-standing image of doctors as "helpers", which doctors themselves very much recognize. The third is the revolutionary spirit factor. Medical school education emphasizes the professional ethics of doctors, which has a deep impact on them.