ral up total h Le UL | FEATURES Cuba’s triumph By LESLIE HUNT Cuba is a very healthy nation. Health . 'S the number two preoccupation follow- Ing closely behind the drive for universal 8h education standards. The achieve- - Ments of this secialist nation in that field pe Overwhelming. Even self-styled hemies of socialized health care be- Studgingly admit that Cuba’s drive for ealth care is an example of World-wide importance. Star € Organization of Non-aligned Ge has designated Cuba as co- ‘ator of health services. The 1984 budget for health services is ~»~-tillion, 5 per cent of the gross na- ‘onal product. = wAtticle 49 of the Constitution states: a ale guarantees that all citizens ais # Tight to free and adequate health and h € State provides free medical Mist Ospital care through a network of. al polyclinics, hospitals, and special- i re treatment centres.’’ Absolutely aan No annual fees — no pay de- ‘ons — no extra billing — com- Pletely hassle-free ! Half Doctors Ran Away Dr. Roberto Gordo Rivero of the misty of Public Health, who briefed = Teporter on the Cuban health ser- eee me that many visitors from all be € world come to the well-equipped i re room to hear an account of how 4, an impoverished and plundered eee in 1958, had made such remark- able advances. “In fact,” he said, ‘‘your Canadian fier of Fisheries Pierre De Bané, sat € Same chair you are sitting in a few YS ago and received the same briefing I am presenting to you. So, for several see the Tribune enjoyed equal status th the Government of Canada. Vi ny) __ Graphs show drastic drop in diseases so UBA FOURTH OF A SERIES In 1958 Cuba had 6,000 doctors. By 1960, 3,000 had abandoned their country and their Hippocratic Oath to serve the sick and needy, and had run off to Florida with others who placed wealth above love of country. Today, Cuba has nearly 20,000 doc- ~ tors and 30,000 support staff, including nurses, technicians, and para medics. There are 15 medical schools in opera- tion now and many other training in- stitutes, including teaching hospitals. Plans are already in place to expand this number. By the end of this century Cuba will have 50,000 doctors and will become a treatment centre for the under- privileged of Latin American and other under-developed countries. It may be appropriate to note that the United States of America currently spends more building one MX missile than Cuba’s an- nual health services budget. Never Saw a Doctor Fidel Castro spent 25 months in the Sierra Maestra during the armed strug- gle, 1956-58, and saw at first hand the miserable health conditions of the local population. There were no hospitals or clinics. Most of the population had never been seen by a doctor, even for child- birth. Today, all births take place in hos- pital facilities. One of Castro’s revolutionary prom- ises was to ‘‘bring the very best health services to all Cubans’. Today, this promise is close to achievement! Polyclinics, better known as rural hos- OR INFANTILE TETANUS MORTALITY CUBA 1989 1982 2 = T Rate per 1 000 five births © 2 we a 7 t 2 e 1988 yyy * 061 62 63 64 66 86.67 og 69 70 71 72 73 7675 76 77 7B 7B G0 81 82 Y=fy AS RS MORTALITY FOR ACUTE DIARRHEAL OISEASES CUBA 1962..1982 é - RATE PER 100 000 POPULATION 8 # 285 Ea 1962 1964 1968 1970 1973 1976 1980 1982 Preterm y Vo f= As Re. MORTALIEC HATE IN ASE GHODPS CBA 1962 1970, 197% AND 1982 1962 1970 1975-1982" ay 3B 27K NTS 21 3 09 A os O58 6s “9 14 16 #* Hate X 1000 tee tutte OTT Hare 1 000 inhabitant MAIN CAUSES OF DEATH CUBA 1982 kate pet 100 GUG inhatnents Ace + (ha? intiuenza ans Prebrmines FIVE MAIM CAUSES OF JMFAHT MORTALITY CUBA 1982 Rate per 1000 hve births Main pennatel complents FT (843) Cangenita! dusorders fF (B42) Other causes of pernatel mortality FETT 1,7 18 44) Intenze end Preumomea (8 32) EZ fi" d other ciarrheal diseases Enteritis an 10) Eo Prdvemnery in health care pitals, are spread throughout the countryside, 400 established at present. Each serves a population averaging 35,000. They are equipped to deal with all manner of illness, including dental. Specialized hospitals are within easy travel distance for referralcases. When I told Dr. Rivero that several years might go by before I see a doctor, he chided me, ‘*If you lived in Cuba and did not turn up at the clinic for your twice-a-year check up, we would come to see you. Nobody in Cuba, it seems, has the right to be less than 100 per cent healthy. Indeed, you might contaminate others.” At least half of the health ministry’s resources are devoted to preventive medicine and social hygiene. The most prevalent communicable diseases have been eliminated or drastically reduced to near world levels, and much lower levels than most under-developed countries. Polio was eliminated in 1970, with a massive and consistent campaign of vac- cination. Diptheria, which had 1,000 re- ported cases in 1960 was eliminated in 1970. Tetanus reached zero in 1970. Malaria, a mosquito-borne fever accounting for 3,000 cases in 1960 was also eliminated in 1970. Infant mortality dropped from 60 per 1,000 live births in 1958 to 16.8 in 1983. Compare this with rates of 90 in the Dominican Republic, 60 in El Salvador and 50 in Mexico. Life expectancy in Cuba, because of greatly improved nutrition and health care, has increased from age 60 in 1958 to 74 in 1982. Serve Cubans and Foreigners Two mass organizations of citizens re- ally make the public health and hygiene campaigns effective: the Committee for - the Defence of the Revolution (CDR), which involves 85 per cent of the adult population, and the Federation of Cuban Women (FCW). They guarantee the mobilization of the people. They ensure that children receive innoculations on time, attend clinic on time, that seniors needing help receive attention, that blood banks are maintained, and that public sanitation is adhered to. The two main diseases terminating life prematurely in Cuba are the same as in most developed countries — heart dis- ease and cancer. And these are being tackled’ at present in the same bold fashion. So effective is the accumulation in the 20 or so blood banks across the country that Cuba is able to dispatch blood of all types to sudden disaster areas of other countries. Countries experiencing earth- quakes and hurricanes are generously aided. The investment in modern hospitals is enormous. Facilities costing from $20- to $30-million are under construction. The Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital has only The recently-opened, 1,000-bed Her- manos Ameijeiras Hospital in Havana. recently been completed at a cost of - $60-million. This structure is 24 stories and built beside the famous Malecon drive along Havana Bay. The hospital has 1,000 beds and is equipped and staffed to deal with all ill- ness,.from podiatry to psychiatry, and all in between. The foyer of this magnificent building is longer than a football field, and over 10.5 metres (35 feet) high. It has ‘the decor and atmosphere of a botanical garden, with plants, shrubbery and trees in huge stone-clad planters. Comfortable lounges and chairs are in ample pro- fusion, completing the inviting and re- laxing atmosphere on one’s arrival. The reception area with a dozen sec- retaries at work is almost lost in this vastness. I remarked to my escort, ‘“‘Ifa person came here with an imaginary ill- ness, it would be cured immediately.”’ But what would surely be the best cure of all — not an adding machine or cash register to be found on the premises. Health records and treatment of all pa- tients visiting this facility are stored in computers and can be retrieved with a moment’s effort by any department on any floor level. Surely Cuba has taken the mystery and mystique out of the application of medical knowledge to the human popula- tion. The accumulated knowledge of medicine is available to all willing to learn and serve. And, the country practices true inter- national brotherhood. Hundreds of stu- dents from underdeveloped countries have graduated from its medical schools and returned home to heal their own people. Many of their own countries’ medical services are no better than was Cuba’s in 1958. Patients are flown in from all over the Caribbean and Latin America for treat- ment in Cuban hospitals. This makes good health and humanitarian assistance Cuba’s most important exports. Leslie Hunt is a Canadian who first re- ported the Cuban revolution for the Tribune 25 years ago, in January 1959. ————— Of Committees of Parents of Montreal. cs QUEBEC NUCLEAR BASE SCENE OF PROTEST Take the nuclear arms out of Bagotville and out of Quebec demanded some 150 peace activists who descended on the Bagotville military base on May 12. Protesting 25 years . Of storing nuclear weapons at the base, the protesters stated their aim: a nuclear- Weapons free Canada. Those demonstrating came from peace, trade union and other Organizations, among them the Quebec Peace council, the Peace Petition Caravan Campaign, the three major Quebec labor central (CEQ), CSN and FTQ), the Federation PACIFIC TRIBUNE, JUNE 6, 1984 e 5