Abstract

MARRERO ARAUJO, Martha; GALVEZ GONZALEZ, Ana María  and  GARCIA FARINAS, Anaí. Trends of the Cuban health budget in the 2004-2010 period. Rev Cubana Salud Pública [online]. 2013, vol.39, n.2, pp. 219-228. ISSN 0864-3466.

Introduction: the results achieved by the Cuban economy and the high social development indexes are closely related to fiscal and budget management policies. The public health priority is evidenced among other things, by the level of budget allocation to this sector. Objective: to describe the behavior of the Cuban health budget and of selected indicators of health services and outcomes over the period of 2004 to 2010. Methods: a descriptive study of the tendency of the health sector budget was conducted. Secondary information was obtained from the literature review and documentary review and from the statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics and Information. Results: in the above-mentioned period, there was a close relationship between budget and the allocation to the public health sector. In 2010, there was some restriction of the budget figures allocated to health on the basis of a more rational utilization of resources, but they remained high. In turn, the health and service Indicators were better. Conclusions: the trend between 2004 and 2009 was upward, with some downward tendency in 2010 as a reflection of the national economic policy of better utilization of budgetary resources, all this linked to the changes implemented in the National Health Service (NHS) and in response to the Cuban economic model transformations. The above-mentioned shows a decline in health spending, without having effects on the service and health indicators. This could also be an example of the existing efficiency reserves within the Cuban health care system.

Keywords : budget allocation; health services; health indicators; necessary transformations.

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