Cuban health minister speaks at UN in segment on Universal Coverage

HAVANA, Cuba, Sep 22 (ACN) On Thursday, Dr. Jose Angel Portal Miranda, Cuban public health minister, spoke at the high-level segment on "Universal Health Coverage" held in New York, in the context of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The site of the Ministry of Public Health published Portal Miranda's words, which we now share in full.

Mr. President:

Achieving health coverage for all remains an utopia in many regions of the world today.

It is impossible to speak of universality when there are more than 700 million people living in extreme poverty and countless communities have been historically neglected in this area, while a purely commercial vision of health services and the pharmaceutical industry prevails.
Systemic obstacles continue to be faced, proving the urgency of a new approach to solving these realities and achieving a truly just and equitable world order.

Mr. President:

For a significant group of developing countries, the main elements of Universal Health Coverage such as the availability of a predictable financing system; well-trained health personnel; access to essential drugs and technologies; as well as the existence of solid and consolidated Health systems are still unattainable.

The privatization of public health care services is a highly worrying phenomenon, with a very negative impact on the economy of the poorest and most vulnerable segments of society, and a devastating effect on the enjoyment of the right to health in general.

If achieving universal access to health services was already a major challenge before COVID-19, the situation of health systems is now more precarious than before the pandemic.

In this context, it is urgent to defend Universal Health Coverage as one of the main objectives of public policies. This is the most powerful concept that public health has to offer, as expressed by Dr. Margaret Chan, former Director General of the World Health Organization.
Mr. President:
Universal Health Coverage in Cuba is based on the right to health for all citizens, endorsed in the Constitution of the Republic and founded on a strategy that prioritizes primary care.

Not even the negative effects of the economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the Government of the United States against Cuba have prevented our country from having a public, universal, free and unique model of service provision, with a strong community base and the experience of more than 60 years of international collaboration in health.

Mr. President:
Cuba reiterates the urgent need to guarantee access for all people, anywhere on the planet, to health services, in which ethical, humanistic and scientifically and technically well-prepared professionals perform.

In this increasingly unequal world, with profound social injustices and lack of public funding for basic activities, greater political will, governmental commitments and sectoral actions are needed to reduce the inequity gaps and maximize the health standards of our nations.

Cuba ratifies its willingness to do everything in its hands to achieve universal health coverage in the world. It is our commitment to support nations in need, both through the provision of health services in remote and hard-to-reach places, as well as through the training of new professionals.
Cuba can always be counted on to advance in this noble purpose.

Thank you very much.