Cuba: high
density of health professionals
WASHINGTON.—Cuba heads the list of
countries with the highest density of health
professionals per 10,000 inhabitants, with 134.6,
followed by the United States (125.1) and Canada
(93.5), according to a report from the Pan American
Health Organization (PAHO).
Haiti,
with 3.6, is among the least favored nations, below
Guyana (11.2), Guatemala (12.5), Honduras (13.6) and
Bolivia (14.1), adds the report, titled A Universal
Truth= No Health without a Workforce, which analyzes
challenges in relation to distribution, migration
and the training of professionals in the sector.
The document states that one of the
principal challenges to the provision of healthcare
is improving the funding and retention of these
professionals in areas of greatest need, and
developing medical education in accordance with the
needs of each area.
One of the challenges to achieving
universal healthcare is ensuring that everyone,
particularly the most vulnerable populations and
those living in remote areas, have access to
qualified and culturally competent health personnel,
noted Carissa F. Etienne, PAHO director.
The report emphasizes that currently,
the world needs to increase the number of health
workers by more than seven million. A better
geographical distribution is also needed, as in many
cases, they are concentrated in large cities.
(PL)
