Resumen

ACOSTA SARIEGO, José Ramón. Responsibility and solidarity in health relations in Cuba. Rev Cubana Salud Pública [online]. 2006, vol.32, n.4, pp. 0-0. ISSN 1561-3127.

A historical account of the development of ethical thinking in the field of healthcare, from medical paternalism that was then the moral excellence canon in the physician-patient relationships to a change of paradigm partly due to influence of conquest and the healthcare approach of capitalist countries, and partly to the results of irrational use of technological advances of capitalist enterprenurial medicine. Medical ethics in Cuba has a long tradition but the development of the new revolutionary project introduced new perspectives and set very high standards to be reached in health service provision. The objective of the present paper was to assess the characteristics of the contemporary thinking tendencies according to the Cuban interpretation of comprehensive health care. As to the Cuban case, the principle of justice seen from the solidarity viewpoint represents the obligation of sharing the available health resources; therefore, doing good in a responsible way implies that one should consider the self-governing right of health service users in the respect for their biological, psychological and social integrity. Acting with responsibility leads to acceptance of individual values and at the same time, to the duty of educating people within the context of identification of their own needs and of the culture of deliberative dialogue

Palabras clave : Medical ethics; bioethics; health ethics; clinical ethics; research ethics; justice; health equity; responsibility; solidarity.