Reviews

“¡Salud! (Health!), a film about the Cuban approach to public health and the role of Cuban doctors abroad, will be a stimulating addition to your DVD collection -- right there along with Sicko… (The) ALA‘s Notable Videos for Adults Committee…named ¡Salud! an ALA 2008 Notable Video for Adults. Only 15 films made the list.”
Film review by Ann Sparanese in Social Responsibilities Round Table Newsletter, American Library Association, June 2008

"Thanks...for giving us this gem of a film to help us to educate a new generation of physicians in these achievable visions, and in the process re-educate ourselves."
Hugh H. Tilson, MD, DrPH, University of North Carolina School of Public Health
In ¡SALUD! The Film: Cuba and the Quest for Health
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, May 2008

“¡Salud! is a great movie that should inform our nation's urgent quest to raise health standards for all citizens."
William D. Rogers, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs

“¡Salud! is an excellent, accurate and deeply moving portrayal of a healthcare system designed to keep people healthy rather than the ‘sickcare’ system that currently exists in the United States.”
Joycelyn Elders, MD, former U.S. Surgeon General

“¡Salud! demonstrates how a poor small island state can impact health around the world.  The Cuban medical brigades offer more than clinical skills to the developing countries.  They bring health to the underserved who might otherwise not survive and more importantly, they bring hope for change in health care systems to make health accessible to all.   Cuba has made the health of the people an indicator of the country’s performance for development.  SALUD also presents a compelling example of south-south cooperation that has strengthened friendship and solidarity among peoples and countries.”
Mirta Roses, MD, Director, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

"For anyone interested in health and social justice, “¡Salud! is indispensable to understanding the Cuban model -- what has been accomplished with very limited resources and the transformative potential of construing health as a fundamental human right and a matter of basic human dignity."
Alicia Yamin, JD, MPH, Physicians for Human Rights

"I salute ¡Salud! for teaching us how much we can learn not just about - but from - Cuba."
Julian Bond, Chairman of the Board
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

“¡Salud! is just the kind of the film we want to showcase in our festival.”
Ayuko Babu, Executive Director
Pan African Film Festival (PAFF), Los Angeles
On presenting ¡Salud! the Audience Choice Award

“¡Salud! shows what is possible if the priorities are right in your society.” 
Assemblywoman Karen Bass, 47th District
Majority Leader, California State Assembly

“¡Salud! should be required viewing for all medical students -- it provides the fresh and inspiring perspectives on healthcare delivery and medical education that are desperately needed in the current climate of medicine at large."
Jay Bhatt, National President 2006 - 2007, American Medical Students Association

“¡Salud! is compelling, upbeat and moving, a great tool for learning the much there is to learn from Cuba."
Paul Farmer, MD, Partners in Health and Harvard Medical School

"¡Salud! is a powerful film whose time has come. It's essential to those seriously working for a national health insurance program in the United States: it shows what is possible when the focus is the patient, not profits."
Quentin Young, MD, National Coordinator
Physicians for a National Health Program

¡Salud! is moving testimony of what international solidarity and good will can do.  I look forward to using this powerful educational tool in my history classes.
Félix Masud-Piloto, PhD
Professor of History &
Director, Center for Latino Research, DePaul University, Chicago 

Even if you’ve never heard of the advanced medicine and commitment to universal healthcare of the Cuban medical system, you will be awed and inspired when you see ¡Salud!.   I was particularly thrilled by the commitment of the Cuban doctors to the poorest of the poor all over the world.
Marilyn Clement, National Coordinator, Healthcare-NOW

“¡Salud! is at once an emotionally powerful, informative and entertaining film that shows how seriously Cuba puts into practice the moral value of healthcare as a human right.  The film will provide important food for thought among audiences interested in religion, ethics and building a more humane world."
Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell, Director of Religion, Chautauqua Institution

 “The film ¡Salud! provides an invaluable perspective on the Cuban health system demonstrating its success in providing primary care and a focus on community health. With predictions of a future shortage of primary care providers in the United States, viewing ¡Salud! is a must for those who are interested in improving access to health services.”
Lloyd Novick, MD, President
Association of Prevention Teaching and Research
(formerly the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine)

"¡Salud! lets audiences in on the unknown story of how Cuba is becoming a global health leader because of its peculiar ability to develop the health professionals and public health infrastructure so desperately needed in the world today.”
Patricia W. Wahl, PhD, Dean
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington

“¡Salud! tells the story of how Cuba is providing a new breed of public health physician to bridge the appalling gap in health equity worldwide.”
Andres-Jacques Neusy, MD, MPH, New York University Medical School,
Global Health Education Consortium governing council

“¡Salud! brings forward the most salient issues in global health today and
successfully reveals that the right to health is urgent and inescapable.”
Arachu Castro, PhD, MPH, Harvard Medical School

“Watch ¡Salud! and you'll be in awe of what a small, poor country can do to alleviate suffering all over the world. The love and care that Cuban-trained doctors are giving to poor patients from South Africa to Venezuela and The Gambia is a lasting legacy to the life-affirming values of the Cuban government and its people.”
Medea Benjamin, Global Exchange

“All I can say is wow!  ¡Salud!  is a terrific and tremendously useful film.  How can the business of medicine not hang its head in shame for its showing in the world of health care delivery?   ¡Salud! shows the  breadth of Cuba’s care and outreach.  Cuban doctors go to countries where they could leave and become rich, but instead they choose the wealth and beauty of caring for others, and that’s an example and a direction for all medicine.”
Patch Adams, MD

“Cuba established a highly regarded universal health care system decades ago, and has provided medical assistance and medical education to the less privileged in developing countries since the early 1960s. ¡Salud! shows us the latest chapter in this incredible
story.”
Julie Feinsilver, Ph.D.
Author of Healing the Masses: Cuban Health Politics at Home and Abroad

¡Salud! should been seen by everyone from our political leaders to students in high schools and colleges who will shape the world of the future. We need to acknowledge that a country with the population of Ohio--only 90 miles from our borders--has evolved a system that rivals ours in terms of longevity, literacy, infant mortality and care for the chronically ill; and at a fraction of the cost. Surely there is a message here!   
Robert S. Blacklow MD
Visiting Professor Social Medicine Harvard Medical School
President and Dean Emeritus,
Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (NEOUCOM)

FROM THE FILM…

“Cuba was a natural for us…They shared our philosophy of health equity, prevention-oriented care and training doctors for public service.”
Ayanda Ntsaluba, MD
South Africa’s Former Director General of Health
Current Director General, Foreign Relations

“Of all the so-called developing nations, Cuba has by far the best health system.  And their outreach program to other countries is unequaled anywhere.”
Former President Jimmy Carter, in ¡Salud!