World Doctor shortage reported. No mention of Cuba.

[JanMichael]

I only bring this up because that little country has doctors and nurses in several countries including South Africa and Venezuela. Hell they're even training American students to work in impoverished places in this most munificent of imperial powers.

Seems to me if we all ponied up, and weren't so greedy, this wouldn't be such a "problem".

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=541&ncid=541&e=7&u=/ap/20041126/ap_on_he_me/health_worker_crisis

"Experts estimate that countries need at least one health worker for every 400 people, but about 75 countries, with 2.5 billion people, fall below that minimum threshold, the report found.

In Uganda, for example, there is only one nurse or midwife for every about 11,000 people, while Liberia (news - web sites) and Haiti have one per 10,000.

Shortages are most severe in sub-Saharan Africa, where HIV medications sometimes exist, but hardly anyone is available to distribute them. About 1 million new health workers — triple the current number — are needed immediately in sub-Saharan Africa to boost collapsing health systems, the scientists found.

Overall, 4 million new health workers are needed to meet the minimum health goals set by the United Nations (news - web sites) at the turn of the millennium, the report says."

[HalfManHalfBiscuit]

1. Total Bullshit

Touting a four year old article quoting Castro is a bit strange. If you believe it, great. I just laugh.

[JanMichael]

2. How about this? July of this year. I'd missed it to be honest.

http://www.americas.org/item_15489

There were 80 there making the effort to become physicians. Your beloved asshole administration is even screwing this idea up.

Congrats!

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Minstrel Boy]

8. lol, Jan

I'm rediscovering the joys of that function myself. My blood pressure thanks me.

[JanMichael]

10. I feel your pain! "Ignore" is a fabulous thing.

That said I've got a short list. Less than 5 now, the others have been tombstoned, or just stoned.

I'm crashing now.

Good night!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

4. A lot of medical personnel, especially nurses, from the Third World, are

emigrating to North America and Europe to help alleviate the nursing shortages in those countries.

You can understand why. If a nurse in Uganda has a chance to earn what seems like a fortune in a First World country.

[JanMichael]

6. They haven't left to "help" north americans for humanitarian purposes.

"A lot of medical personnel, especially nurses, from the Third World, are emigrating to North America and Europe to help alleviate the nursing shortages in those countries."

They're leaving for the "money", there is little altruistic reasoning there.

Admittedly you qualify the subject line with, "You can understand why. If a nurse in Uganda has a chance to earn what seems like a fortune in a First World country.", which is obvious.

However the truly horrific problems are not really concentrated in North America.

That said there ARE truly horrific conditions in this mostest bestest nation of all time, America. But since we're the bestest place ever we ought to be handling this ourselves.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

15. I should have said "help" the Western administrators who have a

nursing shortage because of poor working conditions. :-)

[Sara Beverley]

7. Can anyone imagine what Cuba might be like today had it not been for

the US embarbos, sanctions, and boycotts? Our irrational fear of Cuba, a tiny island nation that never threatened the US, has a sizeable number of its ex-pats working and living in the US as citizens is based more on our fear of Cuba's success than Cuba's danger to us. And yet, our President seems very proud of taking actions to tighten the knoose around necks of the Cuban people because Castro dares to survive. How sick can we get? Instead of planning for the inevitable event of Castro's death by befriending the Cuban people and helping to ease their suffering by simply allowing them to live and work and flourish as a nation, we choose to bully and sanction them. How utterly sick is Bush. How utterly sick is this nation?

[JanMichael]

9. Our nation acts like a bully when ever something doesn't act like we...

....want.

We ignore the fact that Cuba was like most other Latin american autocracies before they said "Fuck Off".

Then what do we do? We say that Cuba hasn't achieved American levels of economic development so they suck. What? They were just like Haiti or most any other Carribean country (Yes there are differences in development areas) when the revolution came in the 40's/50's.

Yet, like Russia (Which was like Brazil when they started), they have shaken off Western expectations/DOMINATION and now sit as one of the most advanced small Latin American nations.

I like to think of it like this:

Russia in the early 20th Century was about (Big country controlled by a small group of rich, mostly white, folks, while the majority got fucked) like Brazil. Cuba was like, well give me a nation like the Dominican Republic, Haiti?? Let's try to compare comparable things!

Anyway both shot forward in their own way. They both increased medical, and educational, advances to their inhabitants, something that their comparable countries failed at. One became a superpower (The USSR) while it's contemporaries (Brazil) floundered. The other lasted longer as a counter balance to to Capitalism while making life for it's citizens better that similar countries.

The hatred, even here on DU, is irrational. They buy into the idea that Cuba has no right to say "FUCK OFF" to the great imperial Capitalistic dick, the US, when, well, they have every right to do that.

[anarchy1999]

14. Jan, take a chill pill. We stand behind you 100%. Your passion

tonight is getting the best of you. Do you have a boat yet? We are looking into all options. Ciao. We love you.

[Minstrel Boy]

11. "More than 300 South Africans studying medicine in Cuba"

A story I posted in August:

More than 300 South Africans studying medicine in Cuba
Granma, Aug 4

"THIS year we are celebrating 10 years of freedom, and it is thanks to the Cuban government and people, who have been with us through the difficult years of our revolution," affirmed Thenjiwe Ethel Mtintso, ambassador of the Republic of South Africa in Havana. She was speaking at a ceremony to bid farewell to 32 South Africans who have studying medicine for five years in Cuba and will do their internships at universities and hospitals in their country.

Mtintso emphasized that this was the third group of students to have completed the course, and urged them not to forget the sacrifices signified by Cuba’s internationalist aid to the revolutions in Angola and South Africa. "Remember who you are and where you were educated, and we hope that you will be revolutionary doctors who will serve the people," she added.

The ambassador announced that before 1994, more than 2,000 South African students had graduated in Cuba, and many others, "including myself, came for political education."

She quoted Che Guevara, who in addressing medical students in 1960 said, "we have the right, and even the obligation of being before all else, revolutionary doctors, who put their knowledge to the service of the Revolution and the people."
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2004/agosto/mier4/32sud.html

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=728829

[bhikkhu]

12. Cuba is a "medical success",

independent of anything else one feels about the country, its politics, or its leader. I have heard nothing but good things about their medical education system, which graduates students from many Latin American countries. If doubt still persists, you might view the UN health statistics - Cuba is on par with the US as far as infant mortality and life expectancies.

[Make7]

13. That may be true, but....

I think the large percentage of people in the US with no medical coverage brings our average down. If WE had full coverage for everyone like Cuba, I am quite certain our infant mortality rate and life expectancies would far exceed theirs.

:) Make7

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. When I was involved in the anti-intervention movement in the 1980s

I heard a talk by a Catholic priest who worked with Salvadoran and Guatemalan refugees in Mexico.

Some naive Republican in the audience asked why people in Central America were so easily "duped" by "Communism."

The priest's explanation was that the most revolutionary development in Central America was the introduction of the transistor radio. Before that, peasants rarely traveled more than a few miles from their home villages, so everyone they knew lived under a basically feudal system controlled by the country's super-rich. They knew their lives were miserable, but they thought that was just how the world worked.

Radios brought them not only news of their own large cities but also news from other Spanish-speaking countries, including Cuba. They heard how Cubans enjoyed free education and free medical care, thanks to a revolution. This sounded pretty good.

"But didn't they think about the loss of political freedom?" the audience member asked.

The priest's response was that they never had any political freedom to begin with. He added that we might look at Cuba, see shortages of certain foods, old cars, and rundown buildings, and think that they had a low standard of living. A Salvadoran peasant might look at Cuba and see not only the educational and medical systems, but also think that what we saw as a low standard of living looked high from the point of view of someone who lived in a hut with a dirt floor and owned one change of clothing.

Back when I still subscribed to The Economist, they had an article in which they stated that Cuba could have developed so much better under a capitalist and "free trade" system.

A letter writer the next week came back with, "You mean developed so much better under a capitalist and 'free trade' system like the Dominican Republic and Jamaica?"

[Make7]

17. LOL - "free trade"

Develop better under a 'Free trade' system? Like Cuba is the one not wanting to have the freedom to trade with anyone it wants. LOL.

They might have "developed so much better" if the US a) didn't try to overthrow the government, b) didn't try to kill Castro, c) didn't engage in sabotage and terrorism in Cuba d) didn't impose economic and trade sanctions on them. Considering the circumstances, I think they have "developed" rather well.

Most people around the world have a much better understanding of things than the average American. The people of Central America aren't the ones who are "duped", it's the people like that guy in the audience.

I wonder what the world would be like if countries were just allowed to 'develop' however their people think best. Could it possibly be any worse than the current circumstances?

-Make7