Citation

Tesh S. Int. J. Health Serv. 1986; 16(1): 87-104.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1986, Baywood Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

3957513

Abstract

This article analyzes the current Cuban health education program which is aimed at the reduction of chronic disease (cardiovascular disease and cancer) and compares it to disease prevention policy in the US. US health promotion policy stresses the belief that individuals shoulder responsibility for their own health by change of habits (diet, smoking, drinking) and it appears that Cuba supports the same policy. Early in 1981 the campaign against sedentarianism, obesity and smoking began under the Ministry of Public Health. Per capita cigarette consumption in Cuba is 3rd highest in the world, and anti-smoking campaigns are directed at improving public awareness; similar educational campaigns are used in attempting to increase occupational safety and health and decrease traffic accidents. Finally, the article discusses the relationship of individual and social responsibility regarding disease prevention and how this relates to socialist countries. Cricits of health education policy in the US fault it for ignoring the unequal ability of Americans to adopt more healthy behavior and for underestimating the social, economic, and political causes of disease. Many critics hypothesize that health education in a less bourgeois society would be more equitable and less individualistic. While the Cuban program appears to be every bit as individualistic as the North American Program, theirs may not be comparable to the US program because Cubans are less likely than Americans to reify the state. At least among supporters of the revolution, Cubans do not automatically make a conceptual distinction between the individual and the society. Discussions about responsibility for disease prevention take on new meaning in this light.

Language: en