Healing the Masses: Cuban Health Politics at Home and Abroad / Edition 1

by Julie M. Feinsilver, David E. Apter

Overview

How has Cuba, a small, developing country, achieved its stunning medical breakthroughs? Hampered by scarce resources and a long-standing U.S. embargo, Cuba nevertheless has managed to provide universal access to health care, comprehensive health education, and advanced technology, even amid desperate economic conditions. Moreover, Cuba has sent disaster relief, donations of medical supplies and technology, and cadres of volunteer doctors throughout the world, emerging, in Castro's phrase, as a "world medical power."

In her significant and timely study, Julie Feinsilver explores the Cuban medical phenomenon, examining how a governmental obsession with health has reaped medical and political benefits at home and abroad. As a result of Cuba's forward strides in health care, infant mortality rates are low even by First World standards. Cuba has successfully dealt with the AIDS epidemic in a manner that has aroused controversy and that some claim has infringed on individual liberties—issues that Feinsilver succinctly evaluates.

Feinsilver's research and travel in Cuba over many years give her a unique perspective on the challenges Cuba faces in this time of unprecedented economic and political uncertainty. Her book is a must-read for everyone concerned with health policy, international relations, and Third World societies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780520082984
Publisher:	University of California Press
Publication date:	10/28/1993
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.12(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Julie M. Feinsilver is Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science at Oberlin College.

Table of Contents

LIST OF TABLES
FOREWORD
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION
1. Cuba on the World Stage: Symbolic Politics
2. Ideology and Organization of the Cuban Health System
3. Health Education and Popular Participation
4. Domestic Factors Underpinning World Medical Eminence
5. Biotechnology, Biomedical Research, and Medical-Pharmaceutical Exports
6. Cuban Medical Diplomacy
7. Conclusions
APPENDIX: HEALTH TOURISM IN CUBA
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
NOTES
SELECTED BIBI.IOGRAPHY
INDEX