I’m a student of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands

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GATS and the health sector in Cuba

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Appendix I: Interviews

Ministry of Public Health

Schedule for the interview with the doctors working at the International Relations Department of the Cuban Ministry of Public Health. The first doctor could not answer all the questions and therefore, I interviewed another doctor to gather the lacking information. Nevertheless, the second doctor also could not answer some of the questions. The questions have been formulated before the interview and provided a general guideline for the conversation.

Eventually, some of them have been skipped and several questions have been added.

Introduction

My name is Sigrid Weitenberg; I’m a student of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. My study is Management and Organisation, with a specialisation in International Business. At this moment I’m conducting research, in order of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (show recommendation letter), to the public health in Cuba. The aim of the research is to determine the opportunities and threats of the GATS for the Cuban health sector (explain further when necessary).

Questions

1) Can you tell me something about the general structure of the health sector?

2) What is the current state of the health sector? (E.g. number doctors of nurses, availability of medicines and equipment etc)

3) What are the main sources of income for the Ministry of Public Health?

4) Where does Cuba purchase its medicines and medical equipment?

5) What is the role of research institutes?

Mode of supply 2

6) What can you tell about the company Cubanacan Tourism and Health?

7) What is the role of the Ministry of Public Health?

8) What is the purpose of the money generated by the company?

Mode of supply 4

9) How many health professionals are working in foreign countries at the moment? In how many countries?

10) In what way are these professionals selected?

11) How many health professionals get paid for these services?

12) Which countries pay the Cuban State?

13) How many incomes is generated by this (a year)?

14) What is the purpose of the money?

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2 15) What regulation exists in order to coordinate this?

16) Do the health professionals learn new things in foreign countries?

17) Do the health professionals return to Cuba?

18) When professionals are employed abroad, are there enough left in the health sector?

Company Cubanacan Tourism and Health

The doctor from the company Cubanacan Tourism and Health also was not able to answer all my questions. I used the same introduction as for the interview with the doctors from the Ministry of Public Health. Since this interview also was semi-structured, some of the questions have been skipped and several have been added.

1) How many clinics for foreigners exist?

2) How many foreigners do visit Cuba?

3) What is the amount of money generated by the company?

4) What is the purpose of the money generated by the company?

5) How many professionals work for the company?

6) How are they selected?

7) What is their salary?

8) Are there differences between clinics for foreigners and those for domestic patients?

(E.g. in quality and/or in availability of medicines and equipment).

Schools of Public Health

For the interviews with the two doctors working in public health schools in the city of Havana, I used a combination of the previous interview questions.

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Appendix II: Prices of medical treatment in Cuba

This table represents the prices of some of the medical treatments offered by Central Clinic

‘Cira García’ in the city of Havana and the number of nights of hospitalisation included with these treatments.

Medical treatment Price (in USD) in Cuba Nights of hospitalisation Rheumatism

(Evaluation, treatment with ozone and rehabilitation)

3,878 21

Multiple Sclerosis

(Evaluation, treatment with ozone and rehabilitation)

5,167 21

Obesity

(Evaluation and treatment)

2,315 21 Prosthesis of the knee

(One of the knees)

10,500 14 Prosthesis of the knee

(Both knees)

19,080 14 Prosthesis of the hip 12,945 21

Correction of Scoliosis 8,915 28

Female Fertility (Evaluation)

2,100 10 Male Fertility

(Evaluation)

2,615 10 Termination of pregnancy

(Until 12 weeks)

640 - Astigmatism

(Both eyes)

2,710 14 Esthetical Surgery

Liposuction of the neck and double chin

890 -

Liposuction of the arms 900 1

Liposuction of the hips 1,110 1

Liposuction of the knees 890 1

Liposuction of the thighs 1,090 2

Rectification of the nose 1,710 5

Rectification of the eyes 810 -

Face-lift

(Incl. face, chin and eyelids)

2,600 5

Breast reduction 1,860 4

Breast enlargement

(Excl. price of the prostheses)

1,390 3

For comparison: several private clinics in the Netherlands offer breast reduction at about 5,500 USD, breast enlargement at about 5,000 USD and face-lifts at about 10,000 USD.

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