Poor citizens, nearly nonexistent Internet connectivity, underdeveloped tourism, overrated cigars, and cars that could qualify for Social Security payments still on the road.
Oh, how quaint and backwards Cuba seems to us.
Let’s face it though, if you’re in the U.S.A., you’re never really getting the full picture. American exceptionalism is as much a product of self-importance and ego as it is rooted in reality.
Our limited perception of Cuba passes through two filters: one is our rose-tinted glasses we use as we look at ourselves and the other is our rust-tinted perception that most of the rest of the world is backwards and dilapidated.
The sad fact is, we couldn’t be more wrong. Cuba actually hosts an amazingly robust, cutting-edge system. One that we desperately need to keep from destroying ourselves.
Cuba is home to one of the most effective health care systems in the world, with life expectancy on par with the U.S., and it manages this at a tiny fraction of the cost that Americans end up paying at home.
It isn’t limited to patients either, considering Cuba is home to some groundbreaking biotech breakthroughs that would save countless American lives, and dollars.
Viva La Revolución
As repressive as the Castros have been over the last 56 years, they saw fit to make health care a top priority at home and abroad:
- Cuba has 50,000 medical workers deployed throughout the world.
- Cuba has restored vision to nearly 3.5 million people in South America through cataract surgery and treatments.
- Medical workers from Cuba fought malaria in Africa, and helped Haiti after the earthquake and through the deadly cholera outbreak that ensued.
- Cuba provides training for almost 2,000 students per year to become physicians for free.
- Cuba sent 300 doctors to help with the Ebola outbreak, compared to about 170 workers from the U.S. CDC.
- Cuba sent more doctors to assist in developing countries than the entire G8 combined.
The list could go on, but I’m pretty sure I’m belaboring the point.
The bottom line is it does far more with far less, at a world-class level.
This isn’t limited to basic care though. As I mentioned in passing before, Cuba has some incredible biotech breakthroughs in its hands right now.
One of the latest and most promising Cuban developments is turning U.S. doctors’ and researchers’ heads.
Cimamax is a lung cancer vaccine, with potential applications across many other forms of cancer.
This isn’t a cure. It is preventative treatment that goes after a protein produced by tumors. It limits tumors from growing and metastasizing.
It has the potential to turn late-stage lung cancer into a manageable, chronic condition.
A phase II trial in 2008 — a solid seven years ago — showed lung cancer patients who received the vaccine lived an average of four to six months longer than patients in the control group.
Bringing It Home
We don’t have these vaccines available even for trials here in the U.S.A., but we desperately need them.
In fact, anything like Cimamax would make a world of difference, not only for patients, but for all of us.
It all has to do with what happens when you couple the cost of the vaccine with its effect.
Not only does Cimamax stop or greatly reduce the risk of more complex and expensive to treat cancer, it only costs a buck per dose and is easily stored and shipped.
Meanwhile, here in the U.S.A., cancer drugs, that often can only match the four to six month life expectancy extension of this vaccine, cost us $100 billion last year.
Merely screening older past and current smokers for lung cancer would save thousands of lives at the cost of $9 to $27 billion to Medicare over five years, according to a study by Joshua Roth of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle.
The cost of detecting and treating cancer is getting downright absurd.
Two of the latest drugs to be developed are immunotherapies, not too far off from what Cuba has been working on for some time. Opdivo from Bristol-Myers Squibb and Keytruda from Merck are both priced at $12,500 per month.
The average monthly cost of brand-name cancer drugs in the U.S. is $10,000 per month, according to the IMS institute. At the high end, it is $30,000 per month for some drugs.
Even tried and true — though debilitating and horrible — chemotherapy is extremely expensive. According to a study by Avalere Health, the average cost of care per episode (three to four months of treatment) was $20,000 in a doctor’s office, and over $26,000 in a hospital.
The five-year survival rate for those with lung cancer is 17% with the latest and “greatest” drugs in the U.S.A.
Compare the cost and life expectancies to what we see in Cuba, and it is an understatement to say we’re getting fleeced.
Early Detection and Prevention
Letting these costs balloon, on the personal and national level, is entirely unsustainable and can only lead to bankruptcy.
Here is where Cuba has us beat. It found a way to extend life expectancy, stop or severely limit cancer growth, and save a fortune.
And it is all due to preventative care. Detecting diseases and conditions before they are acute, and limiting their development, is crucial to keeping costs low with no negative effects for patients.
It is a travesty that this situation continues to degrade while our researchers scramble to open doors internationally to catch up with the rest of the world.
You see, it isn’t just Cuba that is pioneering breakthroughs that lower cost, improve prognoses, and save lives.
Europe and Canada — without the stigma and embargo placed on Cuba — pay far less for health care, and are creating far more innovative techniques than the absolutely massive U.S. pharmaceutical sector.
The silver lining to all of this is we have opportunities to profit as the best new techniques and tools are developed elsewhere, as long as medical workers recognize the potential.
In some cases, that is exactly what is happening now. A good example is a groundbreaking early detection system for oral cancer.
About 42,000 people were diagnosed with oral cancers in the U.S.A. last year, with 8,000 dying from them. Two-thirds of cases discovered were already stage 3 or 4 cancers, and the five-year survival rate is just 36%.
One small Canadian company found a way to change that for the better. It created an inexpensive tool for use during regular dentist check-ups.
It only takes a couple minutes to perform, and adds little to no cost to the patient.
Dentists are rapidly adopting these new systems. 15,000 units have already been sold, and they have been used to conduct over 25 million exams.
Nick Hodge has been covering this company for his Early Advantage readers, and it is a prime example of how investors can drive what we need going forward while turning a hefty profit.
If we can just be humble about it and embrace life — and money — saving breakthroughs, regardless of international politics, we’ll be healthier and wealthier across the board.
With the way health care spending is growing while wages remain flat, ultimately it will be our only choice.
