BBC Newsnight: Cuba, the best health services in the World
Campaign News | Saturday, 16 September 2006
BBC Newsnight, 13 September 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/5342018.stm
When Tony Blair addressed what he promises will be his last TUC conference this week, he clashed yet again with the unions over the thorny issue of the nature of public service reform.
As the Prime Minister turns his attention to shoring up his political legacy, how Britain delivers essential services will remain at the forefront of his agenda.
Over the last few months, Newsnight has been searching for the best public services in the world to see how we measure up and what we can learn. We invited guest reporters to argue the case for the most interesting, innovative and thought provoking examples of public service provision of healthcare, prisons, education and transport in the world.
HEALTH
Healthcare in Cuba
John Harris of the Guardian travelled to Cuba to examine a health system which, despite very obvious caveats with the way the country is run, has achieved extremely impressive healthcare indicators, primarily, as John discovered, by focusing on prevention and establishing doctor and nurse teams at the heart of the local community. Even if you've got a clean
bill of health, your local GP will still pay you a visit once a year to
check on your wider lifestyle and home environment.
Cuban leader Fidel Castro is said to be recovering after illness forced him to temporarily relinquish power. As John Harris reports, he is lucky to be able to count upon some of the best healthcare in the world.
Watch the 12min. film on line at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/avdb/news_web/video/9012da68004cb68/nb/09012da68004cd74_16x9_nb.asx
