Epidemiological silence and the ethics of the Cuban public health

Abstract

This article presented a historical account of the Cuban public health development and the need for in-depth understanding of the wealth of thought, action and ethics in this field. It highlighted the presence of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes and dengue in the Americas and in Cuba and described the actions taken to face and control the dengue hemorrhagic fever epidemics in 1981. It was argued that there is positive scientific evidence in Cuba and other countries that shows the procedures to face epidemics, and it also stressed that when the official reports are inexistent or not as frequent as they should be, then numerous unofficial rumours circulate. Emphasis was made on the fact that when the epidemiological silence does not match the realities, then it does not support either the reduction of the suspected or confirmed cases or the real risk perception of the potential severity of dengue and of the urgent need for eliminating its main disease-borne agent. The rich ethical legacy of Cuban health specialists that over hundreds of years have shaped the public health in our country represents a valuable reference in the present national and global settings, where ethics has become a key element and a compelling and urgent need to face and to solve health problems that affect us.