Although a poor country that has suffered under a 6-decade blockade by the US, Cuba is rich in the human resources its socialism has developed. It has focused on people, not profit. With more doctors per capita than the US, it has increased the survival rate for critical Covid patients from the global rate of 20% to 80% while also sending 2,000 doctors and nurses to the global South and even Italy.
Cuba’s Ambassador to the US, Jose Ramon Cabanas, discusses how Cuba has dealt with Covid at home while also providing medical assistance to 24 other countries during this pandemic. He is joined by Victor Wallis who contrasts the socialist and capitalist approaches to public health. Economist Al Campbell looks at the economic impact of the pandemic in Cuba.