7 ms·

The healthcare system is one of the few things in Cuba that isn't dysfunctional. It's said to be excellent.

ch4s3 9mo ago
> It's said to be excellent This is laughably untrue.[1][2][3] They're lacked basic supplies for 30 years. Frequent blackouts also complicate or prevent many types of care. [1] https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250709-bitter-pill-cuba-runs-low-on-life-saving-medicines https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250709-bitter-pill-c... [2] https://cuba.miami.edu/business-economy/a-close-look-at-cubas-health-care-system/index.html https://cuba.miami.edu/business-economy/a-close-look-at-cuba... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Cuba https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Cuba
- estebank 9mo ago
  > They're lacked basic supplies for 30 years. Cuba has been under embargo for 66 years.
  - ch4s3 9mo ago
    The embargo doesn’t cover medical supplies and Cuban buys what medicine and medical supplies it has mainly from the US. The embargo also doesn’t cover food. Cuba also does a lot of trade with China and Spain but has relatively little to actually sell because the state controlled industries are so unproductive. Cuba also has the least productive agricultural sector in the Caribbean, despite being the most productive before the revolution. The embargo is no excuse it doesn’t cover other countries, and Cuba has always had European trade partners. In fact they received free oil, agricultural equipment, and technical support from the USSR, and later free oil from Venezuela until a few weeks ago.
    - thomassmith65 9mo ago
      The Cuban economy today is a shadow of what it was before the USSR fell apart, which makes it a moot point to claim they are dysfunctional despite foreign support. The Soviets successfully managed to keep Cuba afloat. Not that that constitutes a ringing endorsement for the Cuban system.
      - ch4s3 9mo ago
        That’s part of my point. They were a basket case with a ton of free support, and still are while trading with China and Europe. It’s just ridiculous to blame the embargo as ridiculous as the embargo is. If you read what the Soviets had to say about the Cuban government it’s pretty damning.
        thomassmith65 9mo ago
        I can well imagine. My disagreement is that, as far as I know, the reputation of Cuba's healthcare system is great, and that, as someone else pointed out, the US embargo has real impact. I certainly agree the Cuban system, excepting a few areas like healthcare and regardless of the embargo's impact, does not work.
        ch4s3 9mo ago
        That reputation is largely built on fake statistics though. There’s no international and freely published data to support it.
    - mullingitover 9mo ago
      > before the revolution. Man, sounds like life before the revolution must've been super awesome! I bet everyone wants to go back to that standard of living.
      - ch4s3 9mo ago
        This is a false choice, but the food supply was much better. Cubans deserve a representative government.
        mullingitover 9mo ago
        > the food supply was much better Maybe, except for the tens of thousands who were eating US-supplied lead. > The third, and perhaps most disastrous of our failures, was the decision to give stature and support to one of the most bloody and repressive dictatorships in the long history of Latin American repression. Fulgencio Batista murdered 20,000 Cubans in seven years - a greater proportion of the Cuban population than the proportion of Americans who died in both World Wars, and he turned Democratic Cuba into a complete police state - destroying every individual liberty. - Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy at Democratic Dinner, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 6, 1960 [1] The Cubans absolutely deserve a representative government, and the US will never lift a finger to give it to them. Not then, and as we can see demonstrated in Venezuela today (the US regime is happy to prop up Maduro's cohort and doesn't care about conducting fair elections), not now. The US would prefer a ruthless dictatorship ruling Cuba that sends all the country's wealth to the US over a representative government that doesn't. [1] https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/cincinnati-oh-19601006-democratic-dinner https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-k...
  - programjames 9mo ago
    Under US embargo, not USSR.
    - ch4s3 9mo ago
      Or China, Spain, Venezuela, Mexico, and numerous other trade partners.
      - cthalupa 9mo ago
        No, but losing the wealthiest nation on the planet as a potential trading partner does mean that you are going to be selling your goods for less than you might be able to otherwise. Being permanently locked out of the most lucrative deals obviously is going to have an economic impact.
        thomassmith65 9mo ago
        Additionally, the US embargo limits third parties from trading freely with Cuba in certain ways, and prohibits most Americans from traveling to Cuba. Cuba was a popular destination for American tourists prior to the Revolution. And I'm not sure I'll continue to reply to this thread. Somehow I find myself repeatedly defending the Cuban system, of which I am not a fan!
        ch4s3 9mo ago
        Why defend them? They have for decades exported repression, stoked civil wars, and held their own population captive. And again the embargo doesn’t stop most countries from trading with them. They could host tourists from Europe and do, but almost no one wants to go there. I know people who go regularly for various reasons and they have to bring food with them because there’s so little on the island due to their insane agricultural practices.
        thomassmith65 9mo ago
        Nuance, I guess. The Soviets were spectacular at chess; that doesn't make me pine for 1960s Moscow.
- thomassmith65 9mo ago
  As my comment implies, nearly everything else in Cuba is dysfunctional. In one sense the Cuban healthcare system is mediocre, since it suffers from the shortages that plague the entire nation. But that's like saying Cuban auto mechanics, who also suffer from shortages, are mediocre, despite their ability to keep the island's 70 year old American cars and Yugos in pristine condition.
  - ch4s3 9mo ago
    What good is “healthcare” is you don’t have basics like antibiotics and wound dressings? The idea that Cuba healthcare is anything but terrible is a myth. Any stats coming from the Cuban government about health outcomes shouldn’t be taken seriously, they don’t allow any independent investigation and medical professionals can’t freely publish research.
    - thomassmith65 9mo ago
      That may well be true. While I have heard people praise the healthcare system, I neither am a doctor myself nor someone with first-hand experience of Cuban healthcare.
      - ch4s3 9mo ago
        I personally knew someone growing up who goes there every year and did free eye procedures, and his commentary was that basic procedures were unavailable there and doctors lacked proper training. I know some other doctors who have interacted with them in Central America and expressed surprise at their lack of familiarity with basic procedures. You can’t learn those procedures without supplies.
- SanjayMehta 9mo ago
  Cuba would be much better off if it wasn't for crippling sanctions imposed by the US. Genocide by denial for decades. To give Trump credit, at least he's open about his intentions. Much like a certain Austrian painter from the 1930s; he too was open about his plans, and no one took him seriously until it was too late.
  - ch4s3 9mo ago
    The embargo doesn’t cover food or medical supplies, and Cuba trades with Europe and China. Cuba sucks because its government is terrible. If they could trade with the US they’d have almost nothing to trade. You don’t seenBYD electric vehicles from China there for a reason.

ch4s3 9mo ago

> It's said to be excellent This is laughably untrue.[1][2][3] They're lacked basic supplies for 30 years. Frequent blackouts also complicate or prevent many types of care. [1] https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250709-bitter-pill-cuba-runs-low-on-life-saving-medicines https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250709-bitter-pill-c... [2] https://cuba.miami.edu/business-economy/a-close-look-at-cubas-health-care-system/index.html https://cuba.miami.edu/business-economy/a-close-look-at-cuba... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Cuba https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Cuba

estebank 9mo ago
> They're lacked basic supplies for 30 years. Cuba has been under embargo for 66 years.
- ch4s3 9mo ago
  The embargo doesn’t cover medical supplies and Cuban buys what medicine and medical supplies it has mainly from the US. The embargo also doesn’t cover food. Cuba also does a lot of trade with China and Spain but has relatively little to actually sell because the state controlled industries are so unproductive. Cuba also has the least productive agricultural sector in the Caribbean, despite being the most productive before the revolution. The embargo is no excuse it doesn’t cover other countries, and Cuba has always had European trade partners. In fact they received free oil, agricultural equipment, and technical support from the USSR, and later free oil from Venezuela until a few weeks ago.
  - thomassmith65 9mo ago
    The Cuban economy today is a shadow of what it was before the USSR fell apart, which makes it a moot point to claim they are dysfunctional despite foreign support. The Soviets successfully managed to keep Cuba afloat. Not that that constitutes a ringing endorsement for the Cuban system.
    - ch4s3 9mo ago
      That’s part of my point. They were a basket case with a ton of free support, and still are while trading with China and Europe. It’s just ridiculous to blame the embargo as ridiculous as the embargo is. If you read what the Soviets had to say about the Cuban government it’s pretty damning.
      - thomassmith65 9mo ago
        I can well imagine. My disagreement is that, as far as I know, the reputation of Cuba's healthcare system is great, and that, as someone else pointed out, the US embargo has real impact. I certainly agree the Cuban system, excepting a few areas like healthcare and regardless of the embargo's impact, does not work.
        ch4s3 9mo ago
        That reputation is largely built on fake statistics though. There’s no international and freely published data to support it.
  - mullingitover 9mo ago
    > before the revolution. Man, sounds like life before the revolution must've been super awesome! I bet everyone wants to go back to that standard of living.
    - ch4s3 9mo ago
      This is a false choice, but the food supply was much better. Cubans deserve a representative government.
      - mullingitover 9mo ago
        > the food supply was much better Maybe, except for the tens of thousands who were eating US-supplied lead. > The third, and perhaps most disastrous of our failures, was the decision to give stature and support to one of the most bloody and repressive dictatorships in the long history of Latin American repression. Fulgencio Batista murdered 20,000 Cubans in seven years - a greater proportion of the Cuban population than the proportion of Americans who died in both World Wars, and he turned Democratic Cuba into a complete police state - destroying every individual liberty. - Remarks of Senator John F. Kennedy at Democratic Dinner, Cincinnati, Ohio, October 6, 1960 [1] The Cubans absolutely deserve a representative government, and the US will never lift a finger to give it to them. Not then, and as we can see demonstrated in Venezuela today (the US regime is happy to prop up Maduro's cohort and doesn't care about conducting fair elections), not now. The US would prefer a ruthless dictatorship ruling Cuba that sends all the country's wealth to the US over a representative government that doesn't. [1] https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/cincinnati-oh-19601006-democratic-dinner https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-k...
- programjames 9mo ago
  Under US embargo, not USSR.
  - ch4s3 9mo ago
    Or China, Spain, Venezuela, Mexico, and numerous other trade partners.
    - cthalupa 9mo ago
      No, but losing the wealthiest nation on the planet as a potential trading partner does mean that you are going to be selling your goods for less than you might be able to otherwise. Being permanently locked out of the most lucrative deals obviously is going to have an economic impact.
      - thomassmith65 9mo ago
        Additionally, the US embargo limits third parties from trading freely with Cuba in certain ways, and prohibits most Americans from traveling to Cuba. Cuba was a popular destination for American tourists prior to the Revolution. And I'm not sure I'll continue to reply to this thread. Somehow I find myself repeatedly defending the Cuban system, of which I am not a fan!
        ch4s3 9mo ago
        Why defend them? They have for decades exported repression, stoked civil wars, and held their own population captive. And again the embargo doesn’t stop most countries from trading with them. They could host tourists from Europe and do, but almost no one wants to go there. I know people who go regularly for various reasons and they have to bring food with them because there’s so little on the island due to their insane agricultural practices.
        thomassmith65 9mo ago
        Nuance, I guess. The Soviets were spectacular at chess; that doesn't make me pine for 1960s Moscow.
thomassmith65 9mo ago
As my comment implies, nearly everything else in Cuba is dysfunctional. In one sense the Cuban healthcare system is mediocre, since it suffers from the shortages that plague the entire nation. But that's like saying Cuban auto mechanics, who also suffer from shortages, are mediocre, despite their ability to keep the island's 70 year old American cars and Yugos in pristine condition.
- ch4s3 9mo ago
  What good is “healthcare” is you don’t have basics like antibiotics and wound dressings? The idea that Cuba healthcare is anything but terrible is a myth. Any stats coming from the Cuban government about health outcomes shouldn’t be taken seriously, they don’t allow any independent investigation and medical professionals can’t freely publish research.
  - thomassmith65 9mo ago
    That may well be true. While I have heard people praise the healthcare system, I neither am a doctor myself nor someone with first-hand experience of Cuban healthcare.
    - ch4s3 9mo ago
      I personally knew someone growing up who goes there every year and did free eye procedures, and his commentary was that basic procedures were unavailable there and doctors lacked proper training. I know some other doctors who have interacted with them in Central America and expressed surprise at their lack of familiarity with basic procedures. You can’t learn those procedures without supplies.
SanjayMehta 9mo ago
Cuba would be much better off if it wasn't for crippling sanctions imposed by the US. Genocide by denial for decades. To give Trump credit, at least he's open about his intentions. Much like a certain Austrian painter from the 1930s; he too was open about his plans, and no one took him seriously until it was too late.
- ch4s3 9mo ago
  The embargo doesn’t cover food or medical supplies, and Cuba trades with Europe and China. Cuba sucks because its government is terrible. If they could trade with the US they’d have almost nothing to trade. You don’t seenBYD electric vehicles from China there for a reason.