“…it is essential, fundamental that the states and governments adequately concern themselves and give priority to public health”.
Quotes
“We should proclaim with all of our energies that we have the right to breath pure air, to drink uncontaminated water, to feed ourselves with healthy food….we have the right to be educated, to receive medical assistance, to be less poor when others are ever richer.”
"I believe that, rather than weapons the peoples need ideas. They need a change from an inhumane, unsustainable global world that threatens life on the planet, to a just and humanitarian social order that offers humanity an opportunity to survive. The peoples need a world with a bit of drinking water and air to breathe where the necessary food is available and advanced technology can be used to produce housing, schools to educate the children, medicines to preserve human health and medical care indispensable to all, children, adolescents and the elderly".
“In Cuba, the social and human nightmare denounced in 1953, which gave rise to our struggle, had been left behind just a few years after the triumph of the Revolution in 1959. Soon, there were no longer (…) undernourished, barefoot, parasite-ridden children, without schools or teachers, even if their schooling took place beneath the shade of a tree. They no longer died in massive numbers from hunger, disease, from lack of resources or medical care. No longer were the rural areas filled with unemployed men and women.”
The “Henry Reeve” Brigade has been created, and whatever tasks you undertake in any part of the world or our own homeland, you shall always bear the glorious distinction of having responded to the call to assistance our brothers and sisters in the United States, and that nation’s humblest children especially, with courage and dignity.
Let’s go forward, generous defenders of health and of life, winners over pain and death itself!
"Cuba has been the only country in the world to take this gigantic step forward when it set out to determine the total number of people with disabilities".
"In Cuba, heart problems are the first cause of death, and most of patients die on the way to the hospital, they die because they did not receive immediate assistance within half an hour or one hour. They take one and a half hours, two hours, and by applying all relevant medications the blood clots can be removed. A high number of persons can be saved if they are assisted by an experienced professional and receive those medications, using equipment which help them to find out what is wrong with the patient. The diagnosis is not based only on the doctor’s judgment".
"(...) that mental retardation is no dishonor to anyone, and in a society like ours, mentally retarded children should go to school and get prepared so that their lives could be as normal as possible. No one is to blame. Parents perhaps are if, for example, they fail to fully understand that during pregnancy, mothers-to-be should not drink alcohol. Parents could have some responsibility, but children have none. There is mild, moderate, severe, and deep mental retardation".
"The blind market laws govern how this vital service is provided, and prices make it inaccessible for many, even in the developed countries. Medical services feed into the Gross Domestic Product of the United States, but they do not generate conscience for those providing them nor peace of mind for those who receive it".
"Bush is discovering that the economic and political system of his empire cannot compete with Cuba in vital services, such as healthcare and education, although this country has been attacked and blockaded for almost 50 years. Everyone knows that the United States’ specialty concerning education is the brain drain".
"Nowadays rehabilitation acquires special and new meaning as it relates to life. (...) The service is of benefit to all the inhabitants of the country, where today they are born having a life expectancy of 77 years and which continues to increase".
"Our doctors and all the other Cuban health professionals and technicians are an exceptional powerhouse. No other country has anything like it; just like our island’s internationalist soldiers, they were trained in combat. Their missions overseas abide by strict ethical standards. Their services are offered free of charge, or they are commercialized according to the host country’s circumstances. They are not exportable. However, we do not have enough books. It is not sufficient that our libraries have ample numbers of books to be used for the constant reference requirements. Each one of our health professionals should possess a classical textbook covering their own specialty and if this person carries out or practices two, three or more assignments in the hospital or polyclinic, he or she ought to have at their disposition one classic copy for each of them".