Medical Internationalism after Covid-19 : Cuba’s Global Health Power

In this critical exploration of the state and future of post-pandemic medical internationalism, world-renowned expert Robert Huish draws on public health data and popular media reports in order to document Cuba’s achievements and challenges leading up to and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Huish shows that Cuba’s decision-making followed best practices in public and global health—notably by foregrounding disease prevention and health promotion ahead of high-cost treatments—in ways that worked until the post-Castro government lost its confidence and fell into old habits of courting Moscow for favours and seeking remittances from Cubans living in the U.S. Such miscalculations are what led to Covid-19 overwhelming Cuba’s health system, which in turn led to a looming deeper crisis the country is now struggling to avoid.

Ultimately, Huish presents Cuba’s experiences in ways that open new space for dialogue within the deeply polarized debates over its medical internationalism. This new dialogue seeks to answer the urgent question of how to make the ideals of international solidarity and networks of alter-globalization more resilient and capable of surviving the next pandemic.