Cuba

The Republic of Cuba consists of the island of Cuba (the largest of the Greater Antilles), the Isle of Youth and various adjacent small islands. The name of the island is derived from the Taino word "cubanacán", meaning a central place. It is located in the northern Caribbean at the confluence of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. To the north is found the United States, to the northeast the Bahamas, to the east the Turks and Caicos Islands, to the west Mexico, to the south the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, and to the southeast Haiti.

Healthcare

Castro has long made the promise of free, universal health care an important part of the case for his government. Cuba's healthcare system is widely regarded as one of the better in the developing world. Cuba has had good doctors for centuries such as Carlos Finlay, who determined how yellow fever was spread. The massive Havana hospital, "Calixto Garcia" as well as 72 others were operating well before 1959. However, like the rest of the Cuban economy, Cuban medical care has suffered from severe material shortages following the end of Soviet subsidies. Support from the Venezuelan government of Hugo Chavez has alleviated some of those problems. Today, Cuba has over 20,000 health workers in Venezuela, with over 5,000 more spread around the world in over 60 additional countries, as it views such missions an important part of its foreign policy. These health workers are not allowed to have their families travel with them, which some observers charge is to insure the workers will return and not defect. Like a number of countries, Cuba has developed a hospital system for health tourists, taking advantage of a combination of low labor costs, an educated work force, and the ability of such tourists to pay in much desired hard currency for their care.

Related Topics:
Carlos Finlay - Yellow fever - Hugo Chavez - Health tourists

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