The case for healthcare cooperation with Cuba

I learned quite a bit from a brief Perspective in the New England Journal of Medicine (The United States and Cuba --Turning Enemies into Partners for Health).A June Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the US Department of Health and Human Services and the Cuban Ministry of Public Health lays out a wide variety of areas for cooperation, including infection diseases like Zika, plus cancer and chronic conditions.Thanks to the embargo, products developed in Cuba aren't available in the US because they are not allowed into the FDA approval process. As a result, certain drugs like Heberprot-P, to reduce amputation risk for diabetic foot ulcers, aren't available in the US even though they are on the market in many other countries.We don't need to copy the Cuban health system, but there are some lessons to be learned from Cuba's experience with population health, community-based programs, disease control, and chronic care management.It isn't possible to fully implement the MoU now, because the embargo remains in place and only Congress can lift it. If Democrats take control of Congress, that could happen soon. If not, the author argues that the President has the authority to allow Cuban products into the US regulatory process just like products from any other country. He'd also like to see the President allow US students to attend medical school in Cuba, where some have been offered scholarships.These all sound like good ideas to me and I hope they are implemented.

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——-By healthcare business consultant David E. Williams, president of Health Business Group.