Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #116391

Carles Muntaner, MD, PhD, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto, 250 College St, Toronto, ON M5T 1R8, Canada, 416-979-6905, Carles_Muntaner@camh.net and Francisco Armada, MD, MPH, Ministry of Health and Social Development, Apartado 3449, Carmelitas, Caracas, 1010, Venezuela.

In spite of a network of ambulatories, the great majority of Venezuelans lacked access to care. Lack of access to care in poor urban and rural areas of the country was compounded by corruption. In addition young medical graduates avoided practice in poor areas due to lower pay and dangerous working conditions. In that dramatic context, the mayor of one of the Caracas boroughs arranged for fifty four Cuban doctors to immigrate to Venezuela in order to fill the primary care needs of his neighborhood by living with community dwellers while practicing medicine. Between April and June, the popularity of the program "Barrio Adentro" had already generated the migration of 500 Cuban doctors. In one year the program had been disseminated to virtually all municipalities across de country, totaling close to 15,000 Cuban doctors. The program targeted areas that had never seen a MD residing among them such as the Amazonas. In this presentation we detail the history of how "Barrio Adentro" came about, its achievements and challenges. We also reflect on the how "barrio Adentro" constitutes an important model of collaboration between to middle income countries with egalitarian approaches to health care that bypasses the recommendations of core governments and international financial institutions.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• understand the program of "Barrio Adentro" and its impact on the health of the poor in Venezuela
• discuss the alternative to the neoliberal health reforms for the betterment of population health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.