Whenever I was in school, and had to hear about Cuba's great "health care system", I used to ask the most basic questions.
1)If its so great, shouldn't they have a library of patents for medicine and pharmaceuticals?
2)Shouldn't they be leaders in some kind of medical innovation?
3)Should bio-tech, or some kind of method of treatment or some kind of research be a famous product of theres or at least shouldn't they be leaders in these fields?
4)What is the biggest accomplishment Cuba's health care system has produced, medically, technique, surgery, or in any specific field, ever?
5)If Cuba had created or invented vaccines or cures for any diseases, say cancer, do you really think we wouldn't have dropped the embargo on them to get it?
One does not frequently hear of Cuba when discussing today's integrating global economy. Cuba appears isolated, politically and economically, mainly due to trade restrictions placed on it by the US in the 1960's. No wonder, says the author of this Straits Times article, the world is surprised to learn of Cuba's flourishing biotech industry which has contributed much to the field of biotechnology and medicine. Since its establishment in the mid-1980's, the Cuban biotech sector has developed a meningitis B vaccine, and today exports the world's most effective hepatitis B vaccine to more than 30 countries. Recently, it developed the first synthetic vaccine for the prevention of pneumonia and meningitis, which is much cheaper than what is offered by Western pharmaceutical companies. Poised to provide anti-cancer therapies to the European market by 2008, Cuba is also eagerly looking to enter the western market, and many observers are cheering it on. – YaleGlobal
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=3193