The Cuban government has been paying Americans through a little known program to study medicine in order to return to the United States and serve underprivileged communities.
by Alan Macleod
Part 1
It’s a medical school like no other: the largest of its kind in the world. The Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM) in Havana, Cuba hosts students from well over 100 countries and every year, dozens of American students are paid to go there to train as doctors. Paid, that is, by the Cuban government on the proviso that they return to the U.S. and serve underprivileged communities.
Generally, students come from underprivileged backgrounds themselves and would not have been able to attend medical school in the U.S. for financial reasons. The average cost of in-state training at am American public college runs to nearly $35,000 per year, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges, with private universities charging well over $50,000. Women and people of color make up the clear majority of applicants.
Cuba is constantly demonized by both the U.S. government and the media. Washington made its opposition to the 1959 revolution immediately clear, attempting an ill-fated invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961. Decades of illegal blockades have since sapped the country’s strength and wealth.
Nevertheless, it remains ideologically committed to opposing American imperialism and providing similarly poor countries with medical relief. While the U.S. sends troops to other countries, Cuba invariably sends medical professionals.
ELAM is the centerpiece of this policy. Amid a global COVID–19 pandemic, the island of 11 million has been punching above its weight, leading the fight back. A Cuban drug, Interferon Alpha 2b, has proven successful in boosting the immune systems of coronavirus patients.
Fearing a public relations defeat, the United States government is actively trying to pressure countries to refuse aid from Cuba. Despite this, last week, 140 medical personnel left the country to travel to northern Italy, the current hotspot of the virus. “This is a global battle and we have to fight it together,” said Carlos Armando Garcia Hernandez, a nurse who volunteered for the mission.
Doctors have also been sent to many neighboring islands, as well as Venezuela, Suriname and Nicaragua.
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