I wish Michael Moore had stuck with documenting the problems needing reform in our health care system. Sicko has received favorable reviews, including form conservative sources such as Fox News and The Wall Street Journal for doing this. I fear that the important facts will be forgotten as the media dwells on the more controversial aspects of the film, such as Moore’s comments on Cuba’s health care system. The New York Times looks at Cuba’s health care system, and does find that there is some validity to what Moore says:
Dr. Robert N. Butler, president of the International Longevity Center in New York and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author on aging, has traveled to Cuba to see firsthand how doctors are trained. He said a principal reason that some health standards in Cuba approach the high American level is that the Cuban system emphasizes early intervention. Clinic visits are free, and the focus is on preventing disease rather than treating it.
Dr. Butler said some of Cuba’s shortcomings may actually improve its health profile. “Because they don’t have up-to-date cars, they tend to have to exercise more by walking,” he said. “And they may not have a surfeit of food, which keeps them from problems like obesity, but they’re not starving, either.”
Cuban markets are not always well stocked, but city streets are dotted with hot dog and ice cream vendors. Bellies are full, but such food can cause problems in the future, as they have in the United States.
Dr. Butler has just completed a study that shows it is possible that because of the epidemic of obesity in children, “this may be the first generation of Americans to live less long than their parents.”
There could be one great leveler for Cubans and Americans. While all Cubans have at least minimal free access to doctors, more than 45 million Americans lack basic health insurance. Many are reluctant to seek early treatment they cannot afford, Dr. Butler said. Instead, they wait to be admitted to an emergency room.
“I know Americans tend to be skeptical,” he said, “but health and education are two achievements of the Cuban revolution, and they deserve some credit despite the government’s poor record on human rights.”
The overall record in Cuba is mixed, as described by a doctor who has practiced both in Cuba and the United States:
“Actually there are three systems,” Dr. Cordova said, because Cuba has two: one is for party officials and foreigners like those Mr. Moore brought to Havana. “It is as good as this one here, with all the resources, the best doctors, the best medicines, and nobody pays a cent,” he said.
But for the 11 million ordinary Cubans, hospitals are often ill equipped and patients “have to bring their own food, soap, sheets — they have to bring everything.” And up to 20,000 Cuban doctors may be working in Venezuela, creating a shortage in Cuba.
The fact that 45 million Americans are uninsured, and many more are uninsured, is a problem worth addressing. While looking at Cuba might be of interest, their system provides a poor model for repairing our problems at home.
I have just traveled to Cuba two weeks ago and visited multiple pharmacies and relatives with healthcare problems. Firstly, I’d like to address Dr.Cordova’s comment. While we were there my mother got sick with a stomach bacteria. We went to the pharmacy for foreigners and there were plenty of medications. But, when we visited our relatives, one of them had lost 40 pounds because of stomach issues and the doctors had no medicine to give her. We also visited the doctor who gave birth to my mother. We brought him lots of medicines and vitamins because he had told us he could not get ahold of any. There is a really great healthcare system in Cuba, unfortunately the regular citizens are not allowed to benefit because it is reserved for the elite and tourists. The common pharmacies are inadequately stocked and the buildings are deteriorating. Secondly, I believe that one should differentiate between healthcare quality and cost. Although many Americans are not insured, at least they can get first class healthcare and worry about cost after. In Cuba no matter what one does, as a normal citizen there is absolutely no way to get good medical treatment. It is mediocre at BEST. My great grandmother lives in America and got cataract surgery so she could see, her sister who lived in Cuba lived her last years completely blind because she got cataract surgery, but they did not have the lenses to put in her eyes. I hope that Michael Moore’s depiction of the Cuban healthcare system is taken with a grain of salt because the reality of the situation is obvious when you visit.
Yes, while Michael Moore did a good job of showing some of the problems here, he wasn’t accurate in his presentation of alternatives, such as in Cuba. While the people he took with him to Cuba might have received excellent care in clinics which are used for tourists, this does not represent their system for Cubans.