The only evidence provided in that wikipedia entry is that offical Cuban government provided medical stats are pretty good. My point was not that the stats provided by the Cuban government where not pretty good, but that the actual health care in Cuba wasn't so great (and even then I didn't say it stunk, I said it was "pretty good compared to other poor countries". Of course the main reason Cuba is poor is because of the Cuban government, perhaps we should compare it to countries that where similar in per-capita wealth to Cuba before the Cuban communist revolution, rather than to countries about its level of wealth now. By that standard I don't think it does so well.
Also from the discussion section for that article -
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* The US State Department, citing many independent sources, states that Cuba's infant mortality rate in 1957 was the lowest in Latin America and the 13th lowest in the world, according to UN data. Cuba ranked ahead of France, Belgium, West Germany, Israel, Japan, Austria, Italy, and Spain, all of which would eventually pass Cuba in this indicator during the following decades. Cuba’s comparative world ranking has fallen from 13th to last out of the 25 countries examined. Also missing from the conventional analysis of Cuba's infant mortality rates is its very high abortion rate, which, because of selective termination of "high-risk" pregnancies, yields lower numbers for infant mortality. Cuba's abortion rate was the 3rd highest out of the 60 countries studied. In terms of physicians and dentists per capita, Cuba in 1957 ranked third in Latin America, behind only Uruguay and Argentina -- both of which were more advanced than the United States in this measure. Cuba's physicians and dentists in 1957 was the same as the Netherlands, and ahead of the United Kingdom and Finland. The report states "Unfortunately, the UN statistical yearbook no longer publishes these statistics, so more recent comparisons are not possible, but it is completely erroneous to characterize pre-Revolutionary Cuba as backward in terms of healthcare." According to the same United States State department report, Pre-Castro Cuba ranked third in Latin America in per capita food consumption but ranked last out of the 11 countries analyzed in terms of percent of increase since 1957. Overall, Cuban per capita food consumption from 1954-1997 has decreased by 11.47 percent. Per capita consumption of cereals, tubers, and meat are today all below 1950's levels.[44]
"Ultramarine 09:11, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
Have the last 6 months discussion, where explainations have been made many times that the material is already in the article - presented neutrally and not compiled from a report from a nation that declares Cuba to be an "enemy" - completely slipped your mind? By the way, nothing was removed. I merely restored the acres of material from other countries. I recommend you start from the beginning, asking yourself "What is the purpose of this site?". Is it (A) to present material in a clear and consise manner for readers or (B) to merely list a heap of random views repeatedly until the page is largely incoherent? --Zleitzen 09:19, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
Again, 10 percent of the population has fled the to US, so the US certainly has the right to an opinon. Also, NPOV requires the inclusion of all views, also from those critical. The article does not include these comparison regarding infant mortality, physicians, or nutrition, but only selectively good statistics.Ultramarine 09:27, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
Agreeing with Ultramarine, the fact that the US is an "enemy" of Cuba does not prove that its statistics are inaccurate. On the other hand, it may be that because US statistics on Cuban healthcare are accurate, the West as a whole tends to condemn Cuba's state monopoly on health care. --Uncle Ed 17:14, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
* On the the other hand, critics note the Castro brough in foreign doctors and medical equipement when he himself become ill. During the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, elite Cuban athletes showed the highest use of the Olympic system's free health clinics. Medics reported that Cuban athletes' long-neglected health needs went as far as a lack of even simple dentistry. In a 2003 report, the NIH's American Journal of Public Health found that 33% of all Cuban refugee children have intestinal parasites, 21% have lead poisoning and all have higher-than-normal levels of disease.[45]
Ultramarine 17:51, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
en.wikipedia.org
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