Published
2025-07-11
Section
Articles
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Guillermo Mesa Ridel, Teddie Potter, Barbara Astle, Nathan Meyer, Heidi Honegger Rogers, Jothsna Harris, Melissa Kenney, Ruben Antonio Garcia Lopez de Villavicencio, Heidi Roop, Amanda Farris, Edward Maibach
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
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How to Cite
Leveraging Partnership in the Cuban National Health System to Protect People from the Health Harms of Climate Change
Guillermo Mesa Ridel
National School of Public Health (ENSAP) at University of Medical Sciences of Havana
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9780-466X
Teddie Potter
University of Minnesota School of Nursing
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1825-0097
Barbara Astle
Trinity Western University
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1257-2615
Nathan Meyer
University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0920-5171
Heidi Honegger Rogers
University of New Mexico
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1133-1847
Jothsna Harris
Change Narrative LLC
Melissa Kenney
University of Minnesota
Ruben Antonio Garcia Lopez de Villavicencio
National School of Public Health, Cuba
Heidi Roop
University of Minnesota
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6349-7873
Amanda Farris
University of Minnesota
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-5394-8427
Edward Maibach
George Mason University
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3409-9187
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24926/ijps.v11i2.6762
Keywords: Climate Change, Partnership, Solidarity, Chronic Kidney Disease
Abstract
In Cuba and elsewhere, climate change is harming human health in myriad ways. This article reviews the climate change-related health risks faced by people in tropical small-island developing nations throughout the Caribbean. It provides an overview of Cuba’s partnership- and solidarity-oriented National Health System (Sistema Nacional de Salud de Cuba, or SNS), which, despite severe financial and material limitations, maintains a strong focus on universal coverage, primary care, and disease prevention. This highly effective and efficient system can be further leveraged to prevent harms to people’s health from climate change. As an example, we focus on chronic kidney disease and describe current efforts and future potential for leveraging the partnership-based Cuban model to address this climate change-related health threat. We conclude by examining how the Cuban model could be harnessed in other nations to effectively mitigate and adapt to the human health impacts of climate change.
