MIAMI, United States. — Every May 19, World Family Physician Day is celebrated, a day dedicated to recognizing and honoring the work of family doctors around the world and highlighting their vital role in primary health care.
Family physicians, also known as primary care physicians or general practitioners, are healthcare professionals who provide comprehensive and ongoing medical care to individuals and families at all stages of life. They are the first points of contact in the health care system and play a critical role in promoting health, preventing disease, diagnosing, and treating various medical conditions.
In Cuba, medical offices were an important part of the Public Health system for decades. However, the health collapse on the Island has swept away the primary care system.
It is estimated that the number of health personnel working in medical offices on the island has decreased by 68% compared to 2010. If we add to this the thousands of health professionals who have been “exported” by the Cuban regime through of the so-called internationalist missions, it is not difficult then to imagine the current panorama.
Digital portal figures Cuban newspaper indicate that in 2010 the doctors assigned to the so-called Family Doctors reached 36,478, and that in 2017 there were only 13,131. Then, the statistics reflected a 64% drop in less than a decade. Now it is estimated that this decline has deepened to 68.35%.
Although the official press and state institutions assure that in Cuba the Family Doctor and Nurse Program “is immersed in a process of improvement to increase the quality of life of citizens and their satisfaction with this service”, the truth is that the country seems closer to sanitary collapse that of medical excellence.
