Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, nations have been struggling to contain infection rates. More fortunate countries with socialized medicine, namely in northern and western Europe, found limited success in containing the virus despite aggressive lockdowns. Many less fortunate countries did not find such success, even within the European Union. Italy, for example, was one of the countries hardest hit early on in the pandemic. Hospitals were overwhelmed, particularly in poorer and more rural areas, and specialists were spread thin. However, Italy, among 14 other countries, received help from an unlikely ally: Cuba

Ever since the Cuban revolution, Cuba has had a disproportionately strong healthcare system. This is a result of the Cuban government placing large amounts of government money into the healthcare and education sectors, granting strong returns for the citizens. Cuba ranks only 2 spaces below the USA on the WHO healthcare ranking, a phenomenal score that reflects very well on the country, particularly considering a number of obstacles that Cuba has been able to overcome. Cuba does not hold any share or board position of relevance within the WHO, unlike the USA, meaning that the healthcare index would be shaped more towards the opinions and objectives of the USA. Cuba is under a number of tariff and sanction walls, preventing even medicine from reaching the country on occasion and consistently preventing the acquisition of up to date medical equipment. Cuba also does not have the resources of higher-up countries in the E.U, preventing foreign medical talent from aiding them. Cubans pay a fraction of the cost of American healthcare despite living longer and having lower infant mortality rates- the USA is #1 on the index of expenditure per capita, whereas Cuba is #118 (per the WHO). Yet despite all of their obstacles, Cuba manages to give.

Cuban doctors are internationally famous for their foreign aid work. From Italy to Yemen to Palestine, Cuban doctors show up in war zones, natural disaster sites, terror attacks, and, most recently, pandemic-struck countries. Cuban surgeons and nurses aided Italians in Italian hospitals, Venezuelans in poverty, and Indonesians after tsunamis. Over 20,000 Cuban doctors operate internationally, paid not by their host countries but by Cuba itself, providing a living stipend for their humanitarian efforts. Cuban citizens have cited their healthcare system as a point of national pride. If America and the European Union dedicated as much to their healthcare system, millions of doctors would be performing aid.