Comments on: Forum 2009, No. 1: Innovation Focus on Cuba (#GFHR09)

By: Global Health and Social Entrepreneurship – New Recipe for Great Conferences | Ashoka.org: Technology, Invention and Social Entrepreneurship

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 06:00:30 +0000

[...] of Health of China and others. Jaspal Singh has a great series of 6 posts covering the event here, here, here, here, here, and [...]

By: cuba-j

cuba-j — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:32:10 +0000

It is so easy for many outsiders to listen to government officials and believe every word they have said…what ever happend to critical analysis?

I was a doctor in Cuba some years ago and I think I speak for many of us that are not in the govt and that are dealing with the system day in and day out. Not only is our system not perfect, it is all a political tactic to maintain this “man” in power–for how long now…50+ years?
The merits that are constantly atrributed to his revolution are superficial. Who provides data to WHO and other health org’s? The government.
How many time were we all trained to not diagnose or claim a disease so that it would not go into the book? Thats part of our free medical education.
Deception is what were best at doing. Elaboration is what we are also trained to do…because if there ever is a merit, we somehow have to attribute it to the “commander” (who by the way is a smart man after all– he has gotten his way in MANY things) not the group of individuals that made something happen. Everything is politicized in this country (cuba) and nothing is actually analyzed. I truly hope people dont buy these “success” stories as if every word and every merit is true. We werent taught to critically analyze in Cuba, we were trained to obey and deceive in order to succeed. I know many in the US are not all indoctrinated and can actually think and analyze on their own.

By: Forum 2009, No. 6: A Physical Therapist Headed to Tecate (#GFHR09) |

Forum 2009, No. 6: A Physical Therapist Headed to Tecate (#GFHR09) | — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:03:30 +0000

[...] spoke about the medical assistance Cuba lends to other countries in an earlier post. The photo below of the 20 convertible peso note reinforces this. It touts Operación Milagro [...]

By: Forum 2009, No. 4: Public-Private “Debate” Redux (#GFHR09) |

Forum 2009, No. 4: Public-Private “Debate” Redux (#GFHR09) | — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:52:02 +0000

[...] Forum 2009, there was much stronger representation of the private sector than at the previous meetings. In addition to pharma and biotech, there were several sessions and [...]

By: Julie Feinsilver

Julie Feinsilver — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:34:41 +0000

Although the Cuban health system is far from perfect, there is much we can learn from it and from the Cuban government’s political will to provide universal access at home and assist other countries as well. One of the most important lessons is that their cost-effectiveness and good health outcomes result from a focus on disease prevention, health promotion and primary care without neglecting research to advance scientific knowledge. A second key lesson is that international good practices can be adapted to local circumstances and needs to make medical education both more cost-effective and relevant. A Third lesson is their willingness to review and change the system or aspects thereof when required. Fourth, assisting other countries meet their health needs has been good for Cuba, morally, politically and financially. For an in-depth discussion of Cuba’s health system, its medical diplomacy and biotechnology development, see selected articles and books on my Google profile: http://www.google.com/profiles/julief202 or just Google me.