PBS Newshour 12/21/2010
Excerpt from transcript
RAY SUAREZ (Newshour): One of Cuba's greatest prides is its health care system. Cuba's government promotes the country's free and universal medical care from the moment a baby is born as the cornerstone of its communist state.
And, according to the World Health Organization, the country has much to boast about. The average Cuban lives to the age of 78. That's slightly longer than the life span of the average American. The cost of health care in Cuba is less than $400 a year per person. In the U.S., the annual tab is almost 20 times higher.
And there are twice as many doctors per person in Cuba than in the United States. In fact, it's the highest doctor-patient ratio in the world.
How can one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere provide free care and achieve such impressive health outcomes?
GAIL REED, editor, "MEDICC Review": Prevention, prevention and more prevention.
No comments:
Post a Comment