The Imprint of Fidel Castro and the Communist Party on the Cuban Healthcare System

Abstract

Introduction: The Cuban healthcare system is the product of the political project led by Fidel Castro and the Communist Party following the triumph of the Revolution in January 1959, wherein the approach to public health was conceived as a fundamental human right for the entire population.

Objective: To prove the imprint of Fidel Castro and the Communist Party on the Cuban healthcare system.

Methods: Guided by a dialectical-materialist framework, historical-logical methods, documentary analysis, and systematization were employed to examine theoretical positions related to the subject of this research. Additionally, a review of published articles was conducted using search strategies across Google Scholar, Medline, SciELO, and PubMed; 18 bibliographic references were selected in the preparation of this scientific article.

Authors' Position: Under the leadership of Fidel Castro, the Communist Party of Cuba spearheaded a profound transformation of the healthcare system, enabling the creation of an integrated and preventive model grounded in primary healthcare. Despite the economic, commercial, and financial blockade imposed by the United States, Cuba achieved the "Health for All" goal prior to the year 2000 and successfully implemented its primary healthcare strategy through an integrated network of services featuring a care model that prioritizes the Family Doctor and Nurse Program. Furthermore, Fidel championed the development of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to bolster the healthcare system's growth and ensure its efficacy, an initiative that enabled the creation of domestically developed vaccines to combat COVID-19 and stands as a testament to socialist scientific sovereignty.

Conclusions: The imprint of Fidel Castro and the Communist Party has been indispensable to the development of the Cuban healthcare system, as it enabled the coherent and large-scale implementation of policies that ensured the marked improvement of health indicators, the growth of the medical-pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, the expansion of the hospital network, and the fulfillment of internationalist missions.