Resumo

CABRERA CRUZ, Niviola  e  TOLEDO FERNANDEZ, Ana Margarita. Studies on active screening in Cuba. Rev Cubana Salud Pública [online]. 2008, vol.34, n.1, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-3127.

The Cuban state takes responsibility for the population's health care, and for the search of and timely solution of health problems at the primary care level that constitutes the fundamental pillar of the Cuban healthcare system. At the same time, it represents the main scenario where big changes are taking place owing to the introduction of better or new technologies, the opening up of new services and the wide extension of education, which means that the health area turns into a medical university to teach medical sciences and into the place where the improvement of the Comprehensive Medical Care to the Family and the Community is focused; this Program is aimed at developing comprehensive medical care of excellence for the people, the families, the groups and the community at large. The patient classification is closely linked to the active screening programs that Cuba is conducting at present, and is the important topic that was reviewed in this paper. Active screening essentially lies in systematic clinical examination of the population and its final objective is the reduction of the screened disease-specific mortality rate, so it detects the highest number of individuals in need of a timely and effective treatment in order to improve their quality of life. The requirements for a study of this type and the typical inclusion criteria that a disease should meet to be accepted for a screening program were explained; additionally, the Cuban experience in child and adult screening as well as the main challenges for its implementation in both groups of persons were dealt with

Palavras-chave : Screening; epidemiology; health care service; Cuba.