Print version: Kirk, John M. Healthcare without borders : understanding Cuban medical internationalism. Gainesville : University Press of Florida, [2015] Contemporary Cuba ISBN 9780813061054
Includes bibliographical references and index
Introduction: setting the scene -- Origins and evolution: from "beggar’s helper" to a "white-jacketed army" -- Elam, a school for all nations -- Dealing with the "handicapped" of ALBA: setting the balance right -- Operacion milagro: bringing vision to millions -- Cuba’s international disaster responses: from 1960s Chile to the 2005 Henry Reeve Brigade -- South-South cooperation in biotechnology: medicine for the masses -- The Cuba-Venezuela medical partnership: the Castro-Chavez dream lives on -- Cuba’s role in Haiti: hurricanes, an earthquake, and cholera -- Cuba’s medical internationalism in the South Pacific -- The children of Chernobyl: 25,000 treated -- Cuba’s medical internationalism in El Salvador since Hurricane Ida -- Conclusion: no longer the world’s best-kept secret.
Over the course of the last five decades, Cuba has been a leading force in the developing world via medical internationalism, providing humanitarian aid and initiating programs for preventative care and medical training. In this book, John Kirk argues that Cuba’s medical internationalism is one of its best-kept secrets, and he explores the philosophical underpinning about access to medical care at the core of Cuba’s medical internationalism programs..