Healthcare in Cuba (I)

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(1) News release: WHO Validates Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV and Syphilis in Cuba. World Health Organization, June 30, 2015.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/n ... 5/mtct-hiv-cuba/en/

Quote:

"Every year, globally, an estimated 1.4 million women living with HIV become pregnant. Untreated, they have a 15-45% chance of transmitting the virus to their children during pregnancy, labour, delivery or breastfeeding. However, that risk drops to just over 1% if antiretroviral medicines are given to both mothers and children throughout the stages when infection can occur.

"Nearly 1 million pregnant women worldwide are infected with syphilis annually. * * * simple, cost-effective screening and treatment options during pregnancy, such as penicillin, can eliminate most of these complications.

"WHO/PAHO has been working with partners in Cuba and other countries in the Americas since 2010 to implement a regional initiative to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis.  As part of the initiative, the country has worked to ensure early access to prenatal care, HIV and syphilis testing for both pregnant women and their partners, treatment for women who test positive and their babies, caesarean deliveries and substitution of breastfeeding.

"In 2013 [not 2014], only two babies were born with HIV in Cuba, and only 3 babies were born with congenital syphilis.

Note:
(a) Chinese translation of the first half:

程浩, 世卫组织认证：古巴成为全球首个消除艾滋病毒及梅毒母婴间传播的国家. 联合国电台 UN Multimedia, June 30, 2015（length: “4：21” or four minutes and 21 seconds）
www.unmultimedia.org/radio/chinese/archives/233161/#.VZnBrla2ppg
(b) About PAHO.
http://www.paho.org/hq/index.php ... mid=220&lang=en
("The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), founded in 1902 [decades before the founding of United  Nations, which established WHO in 1948], is the world’s oldest international public health agency. It provides technical cooperation and mobilizes partnerships to improve health and quality of life in the countries of the Americas. PAHO is the specialized health agency of the Inter-American System and serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization (WHO). Together with WHO, PAHO is a member of the United Nations system")

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(2) Bill Frist, Cuba's Most Valuable Export: Its Healthcare Expertise. Forbes, June 8, 2015 (blog).
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bill ... althcare-expertise/

Quote:

“The Cuban government reportedly earns $8 billion a year in revenues from professional services carried out by its doctors and nurses [stationed abroad], with some 37,000 Cuban nationals currently working in 77 countries.

“In my travels doing medical mission work to underserved regions in over a dozen African nations, the most common nonindigenous health personnel I run across are doctors and nurses from Cuba offering frontline primary and emergency care.

“The doctors [in Cuba] are paid paltry amounts, many having second jobs. But in my conversations with them, they reflect love for their work and a palpable passion about caring for their patients.

“Part of Cuba’s success can be attributed to having the world’s largest number of physicians per capita.

“Cuban citizens may be driving cars from the 1950s and have a meager average monthly wage of $20, but they boast ‘first world’ population health status

“Of course there is much we won’t emulate. I, for one, would not want to get seriously ill in Cuba. Cuba’s medical system lacks effective tertiary care, is sorely deficient in specialized care, and has only limited access to important drugs. Rationing of care and years of embargo means shortages of medicines and even aspirin and band aids require a prescription from a doctor. Hospitals can face acute shortages of everything from urinary catheters to the more effective second- and third-line antibiotics. Medical technological advances have either not reached the island nation or are beyond the government’s financial means.

Note:
(a) Please his “bio” underneath his name in the article. See also Bill Frist
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Frist
(1952- ; US senator (R, Tenn), 1995-2007; MD, Harvard Medical school 1978; bachelor's from Princeton University 1974)
(b) Physicians (per 1,000 people). World Bank, undated
data.worldbank.org/indicator/SH.MED.PHYS.ZS
(In 2010: Austria 4.9, China 1.8, Cuba 6.7, Greece 6.2, Hong Kong  no data, India 0.6, Japan 2.3, Korea, Rep 2.0, Singapore 1.9, US 2.4)