Cuban Doctors in Venezuela

Currently in Venezuela there are somewhere in the neighbourhood of 13,000 Cuban trained physicians and dentists providing medical and dentistry care to the indigent poor.

Hugo Chavez, the recently reaffirmed President in this past Sunday's recall referendum (he won with approximately 58% of the vote, despite American funding of the opposition), has been using oil revenue to fund the majority of the social programs he has established since coming to power in 1998.

Walk through poor barrios in Venezuela and you’ll hear the same stories over and over. The very poor can now go to a designated home in the neighborhood to pick up a hot meal every day. The elderly have monthly pensions that allow them to live with dignity. Young people can take advantage of greatly expanded free college programs. And with 13,000 Cuban doctors spread throughout the country and reaching over half the population, the poor now have their own family doctors on call 24-hours a day—doctors who even make house calls. This heath care, including medicines, are all free. (click here for the full article)

My point here isn't to argue pro or con over left-leaning governments willing to provide social programs. I want to point out how preventing physicians from becoming an elite profession that creates its own rules of entry and licensing can increase the labour supply while maintaining or even improving levels of medical care. That is something the Cubans have done.

The problem of rising costs in medicine is caused chiefly by the perception of health care providers at the top of the service delivery chain as an elite; this includes both physicians and the various corporations involved in delivering medical products and services. It is primarily a perception that creates the reality. Breaking that perception is in my opinion a vital component to handling health care costs in the future.

Further Links: Doctor Monopoly and Reforming Health Care

Sorry For the Lack of Content

For the few readers I have left, sorry for the lack of content. I've gone through minor hell the last few weeks.

At approximately the middle of July (right around my last post), I had yet to find an apartment despite having given notice at the co-op where I lived. I had to be out of there by August 1st.

It's been a long time since I've looked for an apartment, as I lived in that co-op for 10 years. I had no idea it would be as difficult as it was.

The primary problem I had in finding a new place was that I have a dog. The rental market here in Vancouver, while insanely overpriced, has fairly decent vacancy rates. There are a lot of units available, but not if you have a pet, especially a dog.

So for the last two weeks, I had to go into overdrive looking for places during the day, and working to meet deadlines at night. Needless to say this wasn't exactly healthy.

I finally managed to find an apartment on July 29th...yeah two days before I had to vacate the co-op. I hadn't had time to do much packing, that had been taken up by work and apartment hunting. So from Friday on I was in a constant rush to get things done.

The move occured over a 40 hour period starting at 9am Saturday, and ending at 1am Monday. I got no sleep, or rest beyond brief refueling; usually consisting of various energy drinks. I lost about 5 pounds of fat, what with all the heavy lifting and caffiene. It's not an experience I would want to repeat.

Luckily, I managed to find a really nice place, for a decent amount of rent, on the top floor of a downtown Vancouver apartment building. The view is spectacular, and it is a giant step up from the co-op where I was living. The new place is much more comfortable and convenient.

I also managed to get rid of an entire cargo van load of junk I had accumulated over the last ten years. I was amazed at the amount of crap that had gradually piled up in the hidden corners of my old apartment.

Now I just have to go through a gradual process of unpacking, and helping my dog adjust to a much busier environment.

As for the blog, until I get an internet connection, my contributions here might be a little sparse. But don't worry, I'll be back.