Health system under Cuba's authoritarian regime

Abstract

The Cuban health system is based on Law No. 41 of 1983, known as the Public Health Law, which establishes preventive-curative medical care and the Cuban State as the guarantor and provider of this service through the "Ministry of Public Health and other institutions, as well as the Health Directorates of the local bodies of the People's Power" (Public Health Law, 1988); this is carried out through the National Health System whose central pillar is the accessibility and gratuity of medical services for the entire Cuban socialist society. This system is divided into three national/provincial/municipal administrative levels and four national/provincial/municipal/sectoral service levels. These provincial and municipal directorates are administratively subordinated to "the provincial and municipal assemblies of local government agencies, from which they receive the budget, supplies, labor force and maintenance. Each province forms local health systems in its municipalities" (Public Health Law, 1988)