Access to (Pandemic) Medicines in the Cuban Health Security Framework

The ‘Access to (Pandemic) Medicines in the Cuban Health Security Framework’ project included the participation of LACC Associate Academic Dr Clare Wenham (Assistant Professor in Global Health Policy, LSE Department of Health Policy) and researchers at the Escuela de Salud Publica de Cuba. It was funded by the United Kingdom (UK) Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Prosperity Fund.

Cuba is renowned for its healthcare system, especially its ‘prevention before cure’ approach. The team worked with Cuban policymakers and stakeholders to examine how global health security (GHS), which seeks to mitigate risks posed by the spread of infectious disease, can contribute to greater resilience in Cuba’s health provision. The video ‘Cuban healthcare offers many lessons for global health security’ provides insight into the project, featuring Dr Wenham.

The project contributed policy knowledge of health services globally, including the UK; new methodological and data capability; and approaches to building infrastructure and resilience capabilities. It considered access to medicines in universal health care (UHC) and global health security (GHS) settings in Cuba; considerations of stockpiling, shortages, and pricing of drugs during a health emergency; and the relative importance of each policy goal of UHC and GHS in practice.