Cuba: plenty of care, few condoms, no corruption.

The health system in Cuba guarantees accessibility to the entire population, is free of charge, and covers the spectrum from vaccinations to sophisticated interventions. The results are impressive: Cuba's health figures are on a par with developed countries that have 20 times the budget. The country is experiencing a difficult period because of the collapse and loss of support from the Soviet Union; over 30 years' trade embargo by the United States; and the gradual change from a centrally planned economy towards more of a free market system. Shortages are experienced in every sector, and maintaining health care services at the current level is too expensive. Doctors and nurses continue to work towards the goal of health for all Cubans, even though their salaries are minimal. Signs of negligence or corruption, often seen in other socialist countries where incentives for output are lacking, are unknown. Topics such as family planning and AIDS deserve immediate attention.

PIP: The health system in Cuba guarantees accessibility to the entire population, and it is free of charge. Cuba's health figures are on a par with developed countries that have 20 times the budget. Each year around 4000 students start their medical training at 23 different universities. Since 1980 there has been a training course for family doctors. By 1995 22,000 of them have been trained covering 90% of the population. Their main work is preventive: health promotion and offering basic curative care. The family doctors are backed up by 400 polyclinics, where specialists offer their services to about 30,000 people. Life expectancy is 77 years and infant mortality a mere 9 per 1000 live births. Malaria has been eradicated and dengue fever successfully reduced. Leading causes of mortality are cardiovascular diseases, neoplasms, accidents, and homicides. Up to now only 1089 people have been diagnosed as HIV positive. From a mere epidemiological point of view, strict isolation could contain the epidemic in a closed society. In practice, however, the island opened the doors to tourism, with a side effect of increasing prostitution. Condoms or any contraceptives are in short supply. Nevertheless, the number of abortions is low, less than 1 per 100 deliveries. The reason is that all women whose expected menstruation is late by two weeks are offered a microaspiration in the polyclinic. 700 regulations are performed for every 5000 fertile women. Pregnancy tests are not performed as they are not available. The country is experiencing a difficult period because of the collapse and loss of support from the Soviet Union; over 30 years' trade embargo by the United States and the gradual change from a centrally planned economy towards more of a free market system. Family planning and AIDS seem two topics that need further exploration. Even if their system is under strain, health indices do not show a deterioration in health yet.

Malaria and gold fever.

The mineral rich territory of the Yanomami Indians of northern Brazil has been invaded by miners--who have destroyed the environment and introduced disease. Médecins Sans Frontières agreed to help combat the malaria epidemic. Conditions in the rainforest and villages and the health care facilities are described. Mere medical aid cannot prevent the Yanomami from being decimated.

Hope for Haiti?

Haiti, one of the world's five poorest nations, gets international attention because of the number of refugees who leave by boat in search of a better future. The 80,000 inhabitants of Ile de la Gonave are neglected, even in Haiti--there is no government medical post, and facilities in the health posts run by missions are minimal. Typhoid and cholera epidemics threaten the island. Médecins Sans Frontières plans to send staff and supplies and train local health workers.

PIP: Medecins Sans Frontieres has spent a public health consultant to the Ile de la Gonave (80,000 inhabitants), an island off the coast of Port au Prince, Haiti, to determine whether the group could send health workers and supplies to the island and train local health workers. Life expectancy is 54 years, women bear 6.4 children, illiteracy stands at 75%, unemployment is 60%, and the mean yearly income/capita equals US$250. The island has no electricity and no telephones. The island's sole physician only has time to work at the island's only hospital (40 beds), run by US missionaries. The hospital's X-ray machine is inoperable and the laboratory is falling apart. The qualified laboratory technician at the hospital went to the US. The physician wants to train more nurses and start an outreach program so people on the other side of the island can receive medical care. A mission operates a health post served by nurses. It has no refrigerator, no electricity, no running water, and no instruments to extract teeth. The island has 4 health posts, all run by different religious groups, which do not tend to work together but do criticize each other. Sail boats transport referrals. Another health post in the mountains has some drinking water, but inadequate medical supplies. A sweating patient at the post had typhoid. This health post had already seen 3 other typhoid cases. Few latrines, very hard soil, and limited drinking water make conditions ripe for typhoid as well as for cholera, which had not yet arrived from Latin America. People stand in line at the mission well late at night to retrieve water. The public health consultant concludes that his group could assist the island as earlier described as well as set up a contingency plan to prepare for a cholera epidemic.

Tuberculosis incidence in developing countries with high prevalence of HIV infection.

OBJECTIVE: To study the impact of the HIV epidemic on tuberculosis (TB) incidence in developing countries. DESIGN: A simple mathematical model is constructed using figures from published reports to estimate the rise of TB incidence as the HIV epidemic expands. METHOD: Two groups with different risk of developing TB are identified: individuals with dual infection of HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis and the rest of the population. The model is based on a combination of the incidence and the percentage of TB in these two groups. The expected rise in TB incidence and the percentage of TB cases that will be HIV-positive are plotted against the prevalence of HIV. CONCLUSIONS: Unless appropriate action is taken, TB incidence in developing countries will double as the prevalence of HIV infection reaches 13 per hundred adults.

PIP: 95% of tuberculosis (TB) cases in the world live in developing countries. HIV infection greatly increases the risk of developing active TB among those with latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. Thus researchers have used data from existing research to develop a mathematical model to gauge the increase in TB incidence in developing countries while considering rising HIV prevalence among adults. They look at 2 groups with sizable differences in risk of acquiring TB: adults with both HIV and M. tuberculosis infections and all other adults. The researchers plot the expected increase in TB incidence and percentage of TB cases that also have HIV infection against HIV prevalence. According to the model, when the prevalence of HIV infection hits 13% of adults in developing countries, the number of new TB cases doubles. Most of this increase will occur in areas that already lack diagnostic services, drugs, hospital beds, and other needed supplies. TB chemoprophylaxis treatment of HIV-positive people could result in a lower increase in TB incidence, however. WHO has set a goal of 50% reduction in TB incidence by 2002. Public health officials could use this model to plan TB control programs to bring about a reduction in the increase. Even though TB control programs can help stem the projected increase, it will be very difficult for developing countries with high HIV prevalence to hold back the projected rise in TB incidence. Developing countries must take considerable appropriate action soon to prevent doubling of TB incidence as HIV prevalence nears 13% of adults.