The Impact of the US Economic Sanctions on Health in Cuba

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Economics, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.

2 Accounting, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.

Abstract

Economic sanctions, as a tool of coercive foreign policy, have been very popular in the 1990s. Sanctions are supposed to impose economic hardship on the country and make the government change its policies. However, there is strong evidence that sanctions cause severe civilian hardship. Reports suggest that sanctions can seriously harm the health of people who live in targeted nations. For this reason, the object of this paper is to address the health effects of economic sanctions in Cuba, because of its long history in facing sanctions. For more than a half of a century, the USA has imposed economic, commercial, and financial sanctions against Cuba. These sanctions have influenced the health of Cubans in many ways. This paper reviews the impact of economic sanctions on health, health services and food security. To do so, desk research and macro analysis have been used in the paper. Finding shows that sanctions have limited access to health services, medicine and adequate food in Cuba. According the results, sanctions have had negative and destructive effects on the health of Cubans and they have violated human rights. The performance of Cuban government has reduced their consequences, though.

Keywords

References

Albright, M. K. (2000). Economic Sanctions and Public Health: A View from the Department of State. Annals of Internal Medicine, 132(2), 155-157.
Allen, S. H. & Lektzian, D. J. (2013). Economic sanctions: A blunt instrument? Journal of Peace Research, 50(1), 121–135.
American Association for World Health (1997). Denial of Food and Medicine: The Impact of the U.S. Embargo on Health & Nutrition in Cuba (Report Paper, March). Available at:
http://www.medicc.org/resources/documents/embargo/The%20impact%20of%20the%20U.S.%20Embargo%20on%20Health%20&%20Nutrition%20in%20Cuba.pdf
Amnesty International (2009). The US Embargo against Cuba: It's Impact on Economic and Social Rights. September. (Index: AMR 25/007/2009).
Barry, M. (2000). Effect of the U.S. Embargo and Economic Decline on Health in Cuba. Annals of Internal Medicine, 132(2), 151-4.
Doswald-Beck, L. & Vite, S. (1993). International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law.  International Review of the Red Cross, 293, 94–119.
Drezner, D. (1998). Serious about sanctions. National Interest (3), 66–74.
Garfield, R. (1999). The Impact of Economic Sanctions on Health and Well-being. Relief and Rehabilitation Network (RRN). Retrieved from: www.oneworld.org/odi/rrn/index.html
Garfield, R. (1997). The Impact of Economic Embargoes on the Health of Women and Children. Journal of the American Medical Women’s Association, (52):4, 181–4.
Garfield, R. & Santana, S. (1997). The Impact of Economic Crisis and US Embargo on Health in Cuba. Mercian Journal of Public Health, 87(1), 15–20.
Garfield, R., Zaidi, S.,& Lennock, J.(1997).Medical Care in Iraq Following Six Years of Economic Sanctions. BMJ, 315, 1474-5.
Hoskins, E. (1998). The Impact of Sanctions: A study of UNICEF’s perspective. New York UNICEF: Office of Emergency Preparedness.
Kirkpatrick, A. F. (1996). Role of the USA in Shortage of Food and Medicine in Cuba. The Lancet, 348, 1489–91.
Mann, J.M., Gostin, L., Gruskin, S., Brennan, T., Lazzarini, Z., & Fineber, H.F. (1994). Health and Human Rights. Health and Human Rights Journal, 16-23.

Morin, K. & Miles, S.H. (2000).  The Health Effects of Economic Sanctions and Embargoes: The Role of Health Professionals. Ethics and Human Rights Committee. Annals of Internal Medicine, 132(2):158-61.

Petrescu, I. M. (2010). The Humanitarian Impact of Economic Sanctions (Working Papers, American Enterprise Institute). Retrieved from:
http://www.essex.ac.uk/armedcon/story_id/The%20Humanitarian%20Impact%20of%20Economic%20Sanctions.pdf
The Cuban Embargo: If not Now, When? (2014, April 5), The Economist, derived from: http://www.economist.com/printedition/2014-04-05
Tutton, M. (2009). U.S. Sanctions Put Cubans' Health at Risk. Retrieved from:
 http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/09/01/amnesty.cuba.health/index.html?eref=rss_us
UNICEF (2008). Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial and Financial Embargo Imposed by the United States of America against Cuba (Report of the Secretary-General, A/63/93), 110.
United Nations General Assembly (1948). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. General Assembly Resolution 217 A(III), 10 Dec.
United Nations General Assembly (1966). International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. Resolution 2200A(XX), 16 Dec.
US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Industry and Security (2008). Report on Foreign Policy-Based Export Controls. Available at: http://www.bis.doc.gov/news/2008/2008-fpr.pdf.
World Development Report (1993). Investing in Health. New York: OxfordUniversity.
International Journal of Resistive Economics
Volume 6, Issue 2
April 2018
Pages 17-36

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 04 October 2017
  • Revise Date: 12 January 2018
  • Accept Date: 16 March 2018

Share

How to cite

Statistics