Human Resources for Health and Health Outcomes in Cuba

An Analysis of Their Distributions over Time and Space

Bibliographic Data

ID22326244
AuthorsIsaac Zvi Christiansen, Isaac Christiansen, David Leonard (0000-0003-1691-765X)
Year2019
Volume11
Issue2
Publication date2019-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Cuban Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1756-3461 • E-ISSN: 1756-347X
PublisherPluto Journals (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.13169/intejcubastud.11.2.0200
OpenAlexW2995441324
LanguageEN
References cited22

Developments in Cuba's healthcare system, infant mortality rate (IMR) trends, and commitment to universal healthcare have been examined by past research. Nevertheless, reductions of spatial inequality in human resources for health (HRH) distribution and IMR have received less attention. Drawing on Cuban Ministry of Health data, we examine changes in HRH distribution by personnel type and inequality in IMRs among Cuban provinces over time, emphasising the period since 1990. We contrast these with global, OECD, and developing country HRH distributions. Our research shows declining inequality in HRH and IMR across provinces in Cuba. A longitudinal data analysis of IMR shows that IMR decreases significantly as physician density increases within provinces. Within a global context of high between and within country disparities Cuba's experience is salient given high levels of spatial inequality prior to 1959 and material resource scarcity during the ‘special period’ of the 1990s

Christian ministry · Demographic economics · Developing country · Development economics · Economic growth · Economic inequality · Economics · Geography · Gini coefficient · Health care · Health equity · Human resources · Inequality · Political science · Scarcity · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Cuban History and Society · Demography · Healthcare Systems and Reforms · Migration and Labor Dynamics

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