Difference between revisions of "Timeline of healthcare in Cuba"

This is a '''timeline of [[healthcare in Cuba]]''', focusing on the modern state. Some [[Cuban medical internationalism|international campaigns]] outside of local healthcare are also described.

|1960s||Soon after the revolution, [[universal healthcare]] is adopted and becomes a priority of state planning. U.S. government imposes embargo against Cuba, which would lead to an increase in disease and infant mortality during this decade.<ref name="bethell">Dominguez, Jorge (1993), "Cuba since 1959", in Bethell, Leslie (ed., 1993), ''Cuba: a short history'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press</ref> Approximately half the physicians in Cuba emigrate.<ref name=healthcare-in-the-nineties/>

|1970s||The polyclinic model of primary care is reinforced and expanded, focusing on health education, prevention and environmental monitoring. The number of medical graduates increase, thus enlarging the [[Cuban medical internationalism]] program.<ref name=healthcare-in-the-nineties/>   

|1980s||Cuban healthcare system consolidates. Primary care is given impetus with the introduction of the [[Cuba's Family Doctor-and-Nurse Program|Family Doctor-and-Nurse Program]]. Biotechnology industry takes off.<ref name=healthcare-in-the-nineties/>

|1990s||Post Soviet era, starts with Cuba's [[Special Period]] of socioeconomic collapse, due to loss of funding from the dissolved U.S.S.R. Cuba starts to accept U.S. donations of food, medicines and cash. At the same time, U.S. embargo tightens.<ref name="cmaj">{{cite web|url=http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2474886|title=Health consequences of Cuba's Special Period|publisher=Canadian Medical Association Journal}}</ref> Infectious diseases rise while infant mortality continues to decline.<ref name=healthcare-in-the-nineties>{{cite web|url=http://www.medicc.org/resources/documents/embargo/Chapter%20Two.pdf|title=Cuban healthcare in the nineties}}</ref>  

|2000s–present|| Cuba's health indices rank extraordinarily at a developed country level, considering that Cuba is a country of poor resources and economic underdevelopment. Cuba also boasts one of the highest physician-per-inhabitant ratios in the world, though massive deployment of doctors on foreign missions can leave gaps in the country's domestic primary healthcare programs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.academia.edu/1129995/Health_and_Health_Care_Revolutionary_Period_Cuba_|title=Health and Health Care: Revolutionary Period (Cuba)}}</ref> Medical tourism is also a thriving and growing industry today in Cuba.<ref>[http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-3085--6-6--.html Commentary: A Novel Tourism Concept] Caribbean Net News</ref> So far, it is widely believed that medical workers are Cuba's most important export commodity.<ref>Foreign Affairs July/August 2010. page 69</ref> Cuba also successfully exports many medical products, such as [[vaccines]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3284995.stm Cuba sells its medical expertise] BBC News</ref>

|1881||Discovery||Cuban epidemiologist [[Carlos Finlay]] provides evidence that mosquito ''[[Aedes aegypti]]''  transmits disease to and from humans.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Finlay CJ.|title=El mosquito hipotéticamente considerado como agente de transmision de la fiebre amarilla|journal=Anales de la Real Academia de Ciencias Médicas Físicas y Naturales de la Habana|date=1881|issue=18|pages=147–169}}</ref>||

|1898–1902||Achievement||[[Yellow fever]] is virtually eradicated due to the efforts of [[Clara Maass]] and surgeon [[Jesse William Lazear]] during this period of U.S. presence.<ref name="Carroll">The Philip S. Hench Walter Reed Yellow Fever On-line Collection [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/ot2www-fever?specfile=/web/data/newreed/reed.o2w&act=surround&offset=33033357&tag=Article:+Major+James+Carroll+of+the+United+States+Army,+Yellow+Fever+Commission,+and+the+Discovery+of+the+Transmission+of+Yellow+Fever+by+the+Bite+of+the+Mosquito+%E2%80%98Stegomyia+Fasciata,%E2%80%99+by+John+C.+Hemmeter,+1908+[02954005&#93;&query=james+carroll Online]</ref>||

|1950–1955||Report||Infant mortality rate levels at 80.69 deaths per 1,000 live births, a figure higher than those of [[Paraguay]] and [[Surinam]].<ref name=united-nations-statistics>[http://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/DVD/Files/1_Indicators%20(Standard)/EXCEL_FILES/3_Mortality/WPP2015_MORT_F01_1_IMR_BOTH_SEXES.XLS United Nations World Population Prospects: the 2015 Revision] - an XLS file</ref>||

|1959||Political change||End of [[Cuban revolution]] and establishment of the [[socialist state]] and [[Communist Party of Cuba|communist]] government. [[Fidel Castro]] takes office.  ||

|1960||Publication||Revolutionary and physician [[Ernesto "Che" Guevara]] writes crucial essay entitled ''[[On Revolutionary Medicine]]'', outlining the future of Cuban healthcare.<ref>[http://www.monthlyreview.org/0105guevara.htm On Revolutionary Medicine by Che Guevara] Monthly review</ref>||

|1960||Policy ||The Ministry of Public Health begins a program of [[nationalization]] and [[regionalization]] of medical services.<ref name="History">Cuban Healthcare: An analysis of a Community-based model Essam Farag [http://ambassadors.net/archives/issue8/cuba_select.htm online]</ref> First [[United States embargo against Cuba|U.S. embargo against Cuba]].<ref name="embargo">[http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1380757 The impact of the economic crisis and the US embargo on health in Cuba]. American journal of public health. 1997 January. Accessed ''6 October 2006''.</ref>||

|1961||Organization (campaign)||Cuba starts to deploy physicians to work in poor countries around the world,  starting with medical brigades to assist during the [[Algerian War]].<ref name=Cuba-Health-Consequences-and-Lessons/><ref>{{cite journal |last= Gleijeses |first= Piero |authorlink= Piero Gleijeses |year= 1996 |title= Cuba's First Venture in Africa: Algeria, 1961-1965 |journal= [[Journal of Latin American Studies]] |volume= 28 |issue= 1 |pages= 159–195 |jstor= 157991 |quote= The Minister of Public Health, Jose Ramón Machado Ventura, led the group, which included 29 doctors, three dentists, 15 nurses and eight medical technicians. (There were 45 men and ten women.) .&nbsp;.&nbsp;. With the arrival of this medical mission in Algeria on 24 May 1963, Cuba's technical assistance abroad began. |doi=10.1017/s0022216x00012670}} (Quote is from p.&nbsp;165).</ref>||

|1962||Policy||"Vaccination days" are established with the goal of reaching the entire population. Proving later to be effective in eliminating [[polio]], it is subsequently adopted in other countries as a primary strategy.<ref name=health-in-cuba/>||

|1963||Policy (Campaign)||The [[Cuban medical internationalism]] program is initiated.||

|1969||Organization (research institute)||Cuban Neuroscience Center (CNEURO) founded.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cneuro.cu/|title=Cuba, Russia and Neurosciences}}</ref>||[[Havana]]

|1970||Development||First Kidney transplant is performed in Cuba.<ref name=Transplants-in-Cuba>{{cite web|url=http://www.medicc.org/mediccreview/index.php?issue=38&id=514&a=vahtml|title=Organ Donation & Transplants in Cuba: Promising Results, Challenges Ahead}}</ref>||[[Havana]] (Nephrology Institute)

|1972||Organization (alliance)||Cuba becomes a full member of the Soviet-based Council for Mutual Economic Assistance ([[COMECON]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-19576144|title=Cuba profile - Timeline}}</ref>||

|1972||Achievement||Cuba declares free of [[neonatal tetanus]].<ref name=health-in-cuba/>||

|1976||Policy||[[Fidel Castro]] elected president. [[Cuban constitution]] revision. Article 50: {{quote|text=Everyone has the right to health protection and care. The state guarantees this right by providing free medical and hospital care by means of the installations of the rural medical service network, polyclinics, hospitals, preventative and specialized treatment centers; by providing free dental care; by promoting the health publicity campaigns, health education, regular medical examinations, general vaccinations and other measures to prevent the outbreak of disease. All the population cooperates in these activities and plans through the social and mass organizations.<ref>° [[s:Constitution of Cuba|English translation of the 1976 Constitution of Cuba]] Wikisource. [http://pdba.georgetown.edu/Constitutions/Cuba/cuba2002.html 1976 Constitution of Cuba 1976 (in Spanish)]</ref>}}

|1979||Achievement||Cuba declares free of [[diphteria]].<ref name=health-in-cuba/>||

|1979||Organization (medical school)||[[University of Medical Sciences, Cienfuegos]] is founded.<ref>[http://www.ucm.cfg.sld.cu/  Universidad de Ciencias Médicas de Cienfuegos]</ref>||[[Cienfuegos]]

|1982||Organization (hospital)||[[Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital]] (HDCQHA) is founded.<ref>[http://www.ecured.cu/index.php/Hospital_Hermanos_Ameijeiras "Hospital Hermanos Almejeiras", ''EcuRed''] (Cuban state wiki)</ref> ||Havana

|1984||Policy|| A [[Cuba's Family Doctor-and-Nurse Program|Family Doctor-and-Nurse Program]] is launched, by which neighborhood/home clinic model is adopted. The physician and the nurse must live in the neighborhood they're serving. They're also expected to conduct research and present their findings at congresses or in journals.<ref name=healthcare-in-the-nineties/><ref>{{cite journal |author=Swanson KA, Swanson JM, Gill AE, Walter C. |date= |title=Primary care in Cuba: a public health approach. |journal= Health Care Women Int|publisher=PubMed |volume= 16|issue= |pages= 299–308|doi=10.1080/07399339509516183 |pmc= |pmid=7649887 |year=1995}}</ref>  

|1985||Development||First [[Heart transplantation|heart transplant]] is performed in Cuba.<ref name=Transplants-in-Cuba/>||Havana ([[Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital|HDCQHA]])

|1985–1990||Report||Infant mortality rate levels at 13.01 deaths per 1,000 live births, the lowest in [[Latin America]].<ref name=united-nations-statistics/>||

|1986||Development||First heart-lung transplant is performed in Cuba.<ref name=Transplants-in-Cuba/>||Havana ([[Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital|HDCQHA]])

|1986||Development||First [[Liver transplantation|liver transplant]] is performed in Cuba.<ref name=Transplants-in-Cuba/>||Havana ([[Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital|HDCQHA]])

|1989||Development||First [[Liver transplantation|lung transplant]] is performed in Cuba.<ref name=Transplants-in-Cuba/>||Havana  

|1990||Development||First heart-lung transplant is performed in Cuba.<ref name=Transplants-in-Cuba/>||Havana ([[Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital|HDCQHA]])

|1991||Crisis||[[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|Collapse of Soviet Union]] and beginning of the so-called ''[[Special Period]]''. Soviet funding halts, depriving Cuba from almost all foreign commodities, including pharmaceuticals. An epidemic of optical and peripheral neuropathy, subsequently traced to a sharp decline in protein, vitamins, and some other micronutrients, afflicts at least 50 000 Cubans. Also a modest increase in mortality from infectious diseases, particularly tuberculosis, is observed.<ref name=health-in-cuba/>||

|1993||Achievement||Cuba declares free of [[measles]].<ref name=health-in-cuba/>||

|1994||Achievement||Cuba declares free of [[pertussis]].<ref name=health-in-cuba/>||

|1994||Organization (medical school)||[[Facultad de Ciencias Medicas Sancti Spiritus]] is founded.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cuban Ministry|first=Higher Education|title=Facultad ciencias Medicas in Cuba|url=http://www.rimed.cu|work=Cuban Education Ministry|publisher=Government of Cuba|accessdate=29 November 2011}}</ref>||[[Sancti Spiritus]]

|1994||Organization (Research institute)|| [[Center of Molecular Immunology]] (Centro de Inmunología Molecular) or CIM is founded.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-09/cuba-releases-worlds-first-lung-cancer-vaccine|title=Cuba Announces Release of the World's First Lung Cancer Vaccine|publisher=PopSci|date=2011-08-09|accessdate=2011-12-11}}</ref>||Havana

|1995||Achievement||Cuba declares free of [[rubella]] and [[mumps]].<ref name=health-in-cuba/>||

|1999||Organization (medical school)||[[ELAM (Latin American School of Medicine) Cuba|ELAM]] (Latin American School of Medicine) is founded.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2012/06/02/cubatrained_doctors_making_difference_around_the_world.html|title=Cuba-trained doctors making difference around the world}}</ref> ||Havana

|2000||||[[Kofi Annan]]: "Cuba's achievements in social development are impressive given the size of its gross domestic product per capita. As the human development index of the United Nations makes clear year after year, Cuba should be the envy of many other nations, ostensibly far richer. Cuba demonstrates how much nations can do with the resources they have if they focus on the right priorities - health, education, and literacy."<ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/castro/sfeature/sf_views_uriarte.html "The Right Priorities: Health, Education, and Literacy. Views on Cuba.</ref>||

|2002||Report|| Cuba attains the second lowest infant mortality in the [[Americas]], 20% below the U.S. rate for all ethnic groups and also below the rate for [[white Americans]].<ref name=health-in-cuba/>||

|2004||Organization (program launch)||[[Operación Milagro|Operation Miracle]] is initiated by Cuba jointly with [[Venezuela]], in which medical workers from both countries would perform surgeries for cataracts, glaucoma, and other eye ailments, with the goal of reaching six million operations across the Americas by 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/article/cuba%E2%80%99s-health-care-diplomacy-business-humanitarianism|title=Cuba’s Health-Care Diplomacy: The Business of Humanitarianism}}</ref>||

|2005||Development||First pediatric liver transplant is performed in Cuba.<ref name=Transplants-in-Cuba/>||Havana ([[Hermanos Ameijeiras Hospital|HDCQHA]])

|2005||Organization (campaign)||Cuba offers to send 1500 medics to [[New Orleans]] in response to [[Hurricane Katrina]]. Such aid is rejected by the U.S. government.<ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20080614224742/http://english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=14771 Venezuela and Cuba offer US aid ]." [[Al Jazeera]], September 7, 2005. Retrieved on 2010-04-14.</ref><ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20071105025006/http://www.freepeoplesmovement.org/fpm/page.php?56 Venezuela and Cuba offer aid to Katrina victims]." [[Free Press (publisher)|The Free Press]], Volume 1, Issue 4. Retrieved on 2010-04-14.</ref>||

|2011||Achievement||Cuba announces release of the world's first [[CimaVax-EGF|lung cancer vaccine]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-09/cuba-releases-worlds-first-lung-cancer-vaccine|title=Cuba Announces Release of the World's First Lung Cancer Vaccine}}</ref>||

|2012||Development|| First Latin American [[catheter ablation]] registry established.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Keegan R, Aguinaga L, Fenelon G, Uribe W, Rodriguez Diez G, Scanavacca M, Patete M, Carhuaz RZ, Labadet C, De Zuloaga C, Pozzer D, Scazzuso F; SOLAECE registry investigators |date= |title=The first Latin American Catheter Ablation Registry |url= |journal= Europace|publisher=PubMed |volume= 17|issue= |pages= 794–800|doi=10.1093/europace/euu322 |pmc= |pmid=25616407 |year=2015}}</ref>||

|2015||Achievement||Cuba becomes the first country to eradicate [[mother-to-child transmission]] of HIV and syphilis.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/mtct-hiv-cuba/en/|title=WHO validates elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and syphilis in Cuba|publisher=[[WHO]]| date=June 30, 2015| accessdate =August 30, 2015}}</ref>

* [[Timeline of healthcare in India]]

* [[Timeline of healthcare in China]]

* [[Timeline of healthcare in Japan]]

[[Category:Health in Cuba]]

[[Category:Healthcare by country|Cuba]]

[[Category:Health-related timelines]]