Community engagement, personal responsibility and self help in Cuba's health system reform

In 2011 the Cuban health system began a process of sectoral reform to maintain and improve the health of Cuba's population, in response to new challenges and demands in the health sector and population health status. The main actions involved are reorganization, consolidation and regionalization of services and resources. Although community engagement and personal responsibility are not explicitly mentioned in the strategy document, it is advisable to use this opportunity to revitalize both topics and encourage appropriate and full incorporation into the Cuban health system. Both are consistent with the objectives and actions of system reforms proposed, in that they allow the various social actors to assume shared responsibility in working toward social goals--in this case, health gains. This approach also recognizes that reaching such goals is a collective endeavor, to be pursued according to ethical principles (beneficence as responsibility and justice as solidarity), with community involvement and personal responsibility emerging as two important factors subject to reorientation in the context of the health system reform under way.