This paper discusses the implications, for infectious disease control, of distinct social values embedded in health system organising principles. The Mexican and Cuban health systems are taken as examples of neighbouring but widely divergent systems, producing different public health outcomes. The paper will look at the organising principles of these two systems, along with their programs and outcomes in relation to five of the most important and dangerous infectious diseases: tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, diarrhoea, measles, and malaria. It will then consider what broader lessons might be drawn from the Mexican and Cuban experiences.

2006 Social values embedded in health systems: Infectious disease in Mexico and Cuba

In Michael J. Selgelid, Margaret P. Battin and Charles B. Smith (Editors) (2006) Ethics and Infectious Disease, Blackwell, Oxford