Six Decades of Cuban Global Health Cooperation

In 1978, the world was put on notice: health inequalities exacerbated by lack of access to essential services was a ticking time bomb threatening social and economic development everywhere. That year, over 100 countries signed on to the Declaration of Alma-Ata, which affirmed that "health . . . a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity, is a fundamental human right." To guarantee this right, governments were urged to prioritize the provision of quality, continuous, comprehensive and affordable primary care for their entire populations by the year 2000.