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2007-06-01 03:20:50 UTC
Cuba's AIDS Sanatoria: Care and Prevention, Not Repression
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Workers World - May 26, 2007
http://www.workers.org/2007/world/lavender-red-99/
Lavender & Red, part 99
AIDS quarantine in Cuba:
Care & prevention, not repression
By Leslie Feinberg
quarantine in the U.S.
In the U.S., there was no scientific merit to public proposals to
empower the state for surveillance and quarantine of people believed to
have AIDS. There was no way to identify how many people out of the vast
population had already been exposed. The epidemic was already
entrenched. AIDS was not spread through casual contact. And anti-gay
and racist scapegoating, laws against same-sex love, immigrant bashing,
and laws against IV drug use and prostitution had generated fear of the
state, as well as of coming forward for testing or treatment.
So threats of state investigation and forced isolation only drove the
epidemic deeper underground. The prohibitive costs of medical care,
particularly for those without health insurance, also barred many from
seeking health care.
Yet on March 2, 1984, USA Today revealed that California officials were
legally pursuing the ability to forcibly quarantine people believed to
have AIDS. The same month, the Democratic co-chair of the Connecticut
General Assemblyâs Judiciary Committee introduced broad quarantine
legislation after a racist media campaign demonized a Black woman,
accused of prostitution and drug addiction, who was reported to have
AIDS.
Even as politicians were refusing to allocate the funds necessary to
meet this public health emergency, the big-business media were unjustly
accusing Haitian immigrants in the U.S. of spreading AIDS.
The late Michael Callen told Workers World at that time that the press
for quarantine powers was ânot really to protect people but to further
certain political goals, to further isolate already disenfranchised
people.â Callen said that the singling out of a Black woman in
Connecticut and allegations without scientific basis that Haiti and
Africa were the sources of the epidemic were attempts âto blame all
calamity on the Third World.â (Workers World, April 5, 1984)
Gay men and bisexuals were blamed for the epidemic for much the same
reason that the church hierarchy in the Middle Ages accused Jewish
people of creating bubonic plague by âpoisoning the wells.â
Media in the South and Jerry Falwellâs right-wing fundamentalist
publication âMoral Majority Inc.â editorialized that AIDS was Godâs
âdeserved punishmentsâ against homosexuals. (aidssurvivalproject.org)
Far-right columnist Patrick Buchanan titled his commentary: âAIDS
Disease: Itâs Nature Striking Back.â (New York Post, May 24, 1983)
Thatâs why the late Bobby Campbell, a San Francisco registered nurse
with AIDS, told Workers World on March 25, 1984, how concerned he was
about the political abuses of broad quarantine measures in the U.S. He
warned, âWe would see gay men locked up en masse and it is possible in
more backward localities that lesbians could be included in that.â
The U.S. government declared war on people with AIDS rather than
marshal funds and forces to deal with the epidemic. Science, not
scapegoating
By contrast, Cubaâan island nation of 11 million that was blockaded by
U.S. imperialismâhad prepared its health care system for the epidemic
two years before its first diagnosis of an AIDS case. So when AIDS
first emerged in the population, it could be easily identified and
isolated before being spread to the rest of the people.
In 1986, Cuba opened up 13 sanatoria that provided care for 99 people,
only 20 percent of whom were believed to have contracted AIDS through
same-sex contact. (Denver Post, Feb. 10, 2003)
Joseph Mutti wrote from Havana in June 1999, âOnce a person has tested
HIV-positive, attempts are made to trace everyone who had sexual
contact with the person. Given Cubansâ general openness about their
sexuality, and Cubaâs cradle-to-grave health care system, itâs usually
possible to ascertain how and when a person was infected.
âThe basic principle of the Cuban public health-care system, widely
recognized as the Third Worldâs best,â Mutti explained, âis to
prioritize the health of the population as a whole instead of focusing
exclusively on individual care. This is important for understanding
HIV/AIDS policies, including the sanatorium system that earned Cuba an
unfair reputation for employing repression to counter the
virus.â (âLove and Honesty: The Dawn of Gay Rights,â Resource Center of
the Americas.org)
The newspaper Granma explained Cubaâs reasons for using quarantine:
âThe main usefulness of this measure is to slow down as much as
possible the epidemic progression of the disease to allow time for
other measures of disease control to have a medium- or long-term
effect, such as education (encouraging changes in sexual habits and
behavior), until such time as a vaccine and treatment exist, auguring a
definitive solution to the problem.â (âCuban Strategy in the Struggle
Against AIDS,â Granma, Sept. 18, 1988)
When asked about the Cuban approach to AIDS, then-Cuban Deputy Public
Health Minister Hector Terry explained in October 1987, âThe quarantine
center is a sanatorium. We have a very small number of people carrying
the virus, and we believe that because of that, we are in a unique
situation. We have an opportunity, in epidemiological terms, of
controlling the spread of AIDS and preventing it from becoming a major
epidemic as it has in other countries, where they donât know how to
confront, reduce or eliminate it.
âWe are in a situation that permits us to make this kind of decision,
and to wait a while because we are not talking about something
permanent, for a whole lifetime. Weâre talking about a dialectical
situation.â
Terry added, âThis aspect [quarantine] is controversial, some groups of
scientists disagree with it.â He said that the objections were âmore
from a political than a scientific standpoint. But we believe our
country has this epidemiological opportunity and we shouldnât lose it.
We are trying to prevent the spread of the virus throughout the country
by means of sexual relations that our patients could have with other
people who at this point have not been infected with the virus.â
âOur country has its own philosophy and the first principle of this
philosophy is respect for human dignity. I think that human dignity
requires care of the individual. You know that we spare no resources
here to make sure that our people have the best health care possible
anywhere in the world. And thatâs part of what weâre trying to maintain
in our battle against AIDS.â (Interview with Karen Wald, Guardian, Oct.
28, 1987) The best careâfor free
Cuba provided free health care to its population despite economic
obstruction by the U.S. and later the devastating loss of its main
trading partner, the Soviet Union. Cuba organized its scarce
resourcesânot just to stem transmission of the epidemic, but to provide
humane care.
âOrganized like small communities,â MEDICC Review wrote, âthe
sanatoriums are made up of apartment complexes and small houses, plus
infirmary, offices and other patient facilities.â (Vol. II, No. 1, 2;
2001)
People with AIDS received healthy food, medications and other
treatment, air-conditioned housing, exercise and sports, movies,
television, videos, rest, and psychological and social services;
everything was free except cigarettes.
Cubans with AIDS continued to receive their full paychecks, even if
they werenât able to work. Their jobs were held open indefinitely.
Terry stressed, âThis is very important, so that they have no concern
regarding the support of their families.
âWhat other country in the world would be capable of paying full salary
to people with AIDS? Terry asked. âI think thatâs very linked to the
whole question of human rights and the controversies around this. We
know there are countries that shout about human rights, such as the
U.S. where a person who gets AIDS may die of hunger, lose his job, itâs
hard to get into a hospital. Treatment there costs an average of $700 a
day.â
Terry added that the Cubansâ families also received special attention.
A working group of psychologists, sociologists and social workers
helped the families of people with AIDS deal with their problems, as
well. Terry concluded that people with AIDS had greater peace of mind
knowing their families were being cared for.
Next: Cuba declared war on AIDS, not on people with AIDS
Articles copyright 1995-2007 Workers World. Verbatim copying and
distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without
royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ***@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-***@workersworld.net
*
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Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
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Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Workers World - May 26, 2007
http://www.workers.org/2007/world/lavender-red-99/
Lavender & Red, part 99
AIDS quarantine in Cuba:
Care & prevention, not repression
By Leslie Feinberg
From both a scientific and human standpoint, the AIDS sanatoria health
care facilities in Cuba bore no relation to the threat of statequarantine in the U.S.
In the U.S., there was no scientific merit to public proposals to
empower the state for surveillance and quarantine of people believed to
have AIDS. There was no way to identify how many people out of the vast
population had already been exposed. The epidemic was already
entrenched. AIDS was not spread through casual contact. And anti-gay
and racist scapegoating, laws against same-sex love, immigrant bashing,
and laws against IV drug use and prostitution had generated fear of the
state, as well as of coming forward for testing or treatment.
So threats of state investigation and forced isolation only drove the
epidemic deeper underground. The prohibitive costs of medical care,
particularly for those without health insurance, also barred many from
seeking health care.
Yet on March 2, 1984, USA Today revealed that California officials were
legally pursuing the ability to forcibly quarantine people believed to
have AIDS. The same month, the Democratic co-chair of the Connecticut
General Assemblyâs Judiciary Committee introduced broad quarantine
legislation after a racist media campaign demonized a Black woman,
accused of prostitution and drug addiction, who was reported to have
AIDS.
Even as politicians were refusing to allocate the funds necessary to
meet this public health emergency, the big-business media were unjustly
accusing Haitian immigrants in the U.S. of spreading AIDS.
The late Michael Callen told Workers World at that time that the press
for quarantine powers was ânot really to protect people but to further
certain political goals, to further isolate already disenfranchised
people.â Callen said that the singling out of a Black woman in
Connecticut and allegations without scientific basis that Haiti and
Africa were the sources of the epidemic were attempts âto blame all
calamity on the Third World.â (Workers World, April 5, 1984)
Gay men and bisexuals were blamed for the epidemic for much the same
reason that the church hierarchy in the Middle Ages accused Jewish
people of creating bubonic plague by âpoisoning the wells.â
Media in the South and Jerry Falwellâs right-wing fundamentalist
publication âMoral Majority Inc.â editorialized that AIDS was Godâs
âdeserved punishmentsâ against homosexuals. (aidssurvivalproject.org)
Far-right columnist Patrick Buchanan titled his commentary: âAIDS
Disease: Itâs Nature Striking Back.â (New York Post, May 24, 1983)
Thatâs why the late Bobby Campbell, a San Francisco registered nurse
with AIDS, told Workers World on March 25, 1984, how concerned he was
about the political abuses of broad quarantine measures in the U.S. He
warned, âWe would see gay men locked up en masse and it is possible in
more backward localities that lesbians could be included in that.â
The U.S. government declared war on people with AIDS rather than
marshal funds and forces to deal with the epidemic. Science, not
scapegoating
By contrast, Cubaâan island nation of 11 million that was blockaded by
U.S. imperialismâhad prepared its health care system for the epidemic
two years before its first diagnosis of an AIDS case. So when AIDS
first emerged in the population, it could be easily identified and
isolated before being spread to the rest of the people.
In 1986, Cuba opened up 13 sanatoria that provided care for 99 people,
only 20 percent of whom were believed to have contracted AIDS through
same-sex contact. (Denver Post, Feb. 10, 2003)
Joseph Mutti wrote from Havana in June 1999, âOnce a person has tested
HIV-positive, attempts are made to trace everyone who had sexual
contact with the person. Given Cubansâ general openness about their
sexuality, and Cubaâs cradle-to-grave health care system, itâs usually
possible to ascertain how and when a person was infected.
âThe basic principle of the Cuban public health-care system, widely
recognized as the Third Worldâs best,â Mutti explained, âis to
prioritize the health of the population as a whole instead of focusing
exclusively on individual care. This is important for understanding
HIV/AIDS policies, including the sanatorium system that earned Cuba an
unfair reputation for employing repression to counter the
virus.â (âLove and Honesty: The Dawn of Gay Rights,â Resource Center of
the Americas.org)
The newspaper Granma explained Cubaâs reasons for using quarantine:
âThe main usefulness of this measure is to slow down as much as
possible the epidemic progression of the disease to allow time for
other measures of disease control to have a medium- or long-term
effect, such as education (encouraging changes in sexual habits and
behavior), until such time as a vaccine and treatment exist, auguring a
definitive solution to the problem.â (âCuban Strategy in the Struggle
Against AIDS,â Granma, Sept. 18, 1988)
When asked about the Cuban approach to AIDS, then-Cuban Deputy Public
Health Minister Hector Terry explained in October 1987, âThe quarantine
center is a sanatorium. We have a very small number of people carrying
the virus, and we believe that because of that, we are in a unique
situation. We have an opportunity, in epidemiological terms, of
controlling the spread of AIDS and preventing it from becoming a major
epidemic as it has in other countries, where they donât know how to
confront, reduce or eliminate it.
âWe are in a situation that permits us to make this kind of decision,
and to wait a while because we are not talking about something
permanent, for a whole lifetime. Weâre talking about a dialectical
situation.â
Terry added, âThis aspect [quarantine] is controversial, some groups of
scientists disagree with it.â He said that the objections were âmore
from a political than a scientific standpoint. But we believe our
country has this epidemiological opportunity and we shouldnât lose it.
We are trying to prevent the spread of the virus throughout the country
by means of sexual relations that our patients could have with other
people who at this point have not been infected with the virus.â
âOur country has its own philosophy and the first principle of this
philosophy is respect for human dignity. I think that human dignity
requires care of the individual. You know that we spare no resources
here to make sure that our people have the best health care possible
anywhere in the world. And thatâs part of what weâre trying to maintain
in our battle against AIDS.â (Interview with Karen Wald, Guardian, Oct.
28, 1987) The best careâfor free
Cuba provided free health care to its population despite economic
obstruction by the U.S. and later the devastating loss of its main
trading partner, the Soviet Union. Cuba organized its scarce
resourcesânot just to stem transmission of the epidemic, but to provide
humane care.
âOrganized like small communities,â MEDICC Review wrote, âthe
sanatoriums are made up of apartment complexes and small houses, plus
infirmary, offices and other patient facilities.â (Vol. II, No. 1, 2;
2001)
People with AIDS received healthy food, medications and other
treatment, air-conditioned housing, exercise and sports, movies,
television, videos, rest, and psychological and social services;
everything was free except cigarettes.
Cubans with AIDS continued to receive their full paychecks, even if
they werenât able to work. Their jobs were held open indefinitely.
Terry stressed, âThis is very important, so that they have no concern
regarding the support of their families.
âWhat other country in the world would be capable of paying full salary
to people with AIDS? Terry asked. âI think thatâs very linked to the
whole question of human rights and the controversies around this. We
know there are countries that shout about human rights, such as the
U.S. where a person who gets AIDS may die of hunger, lose his job, itâs
hard to get into a hospital. Treatment there costs an average of $700 a
day.â
Terry added that the Cubansâ families also received special attention.
A working group of psychologists, sociologists and social workers
helped the families of people with AIDS deal with their problems, as
well. Terry concluded that people with AIDS had greater peace of mind
knowing their families were being cared for.
Next: Cuba declared war on AIDS, not on people with AIDS
Articles copyright 1995-2007 Workers World. Verbatim copying and
distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium without
royalty provided this notice is preserved.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ***@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-***@workersworld.net
*
================================================================
NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems
Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
Search Archives: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/htdig/search.html
List Archives: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
Subscribe: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
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