| WHITE BOOK 2006 >> THIRD PART >>CHAPTER 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
CHAPTER 7: FULL EMPLOYMENT AND THE GUARANTEE OF SOCIAL ASSISTANCE AND SECURITY FOR ALL CUBANS The socio-economic transformations undertaken by the Cuban Revolution since 1959 have made it possible to design and apply a development strategy which harmonizes economic growth with social policies. From the outset, the employment strategy has been to secure paid labor for every citizen fit to work regardless of their age, race, sex, nationality, religious beliefs or political ideology and to wipe out the high rates of unemployment and underemployment inherited from the regime of neo-colonial domination imposed on the island for more than half a century. The labor policy, social assistance and security occupy top place among the achievements of the Revolution, as they contrast markedly with the situation that the country was in prior to 1959. At the end of the 1950s, there were 600,000 Cubans out of work; 500,000 agricultural laborers only worked for 4 months of the year and went hungry the rest of the time; the pensions of 400,000 industrial and temporary farm workers had been embezzled by one government after another and corrupt administrators, and 10,000 young professionals, doctors, engineers, lawyers, veterinaries, teachers, dentists, pharmacists, journalists, painters, sculptors, etc, graduated without hope of finding work. The employment policy that was put into practice after the Revolution aimed to turn this situation around, incorporating the masses into the nation’s social and economic development by creating jobs that paid decent wages. Right from the beginning, the Revolution did away with the sugar worker’s “dead time”; slave-like domestic labor; the tragic situation of having 10,000 classrooms without teachers; lack of sanitation in rural areas; embezzled social security funds; and the general social vulnerability of the workers and their families. When the people came to power, there was a substantial reduction in unemployment due to the increase in programmes for agriculture, industry, construction, health programmes, education and sports, among others, which began to change all of Cuba’s geography. The 80’s was a decade when there was a boom in job creation as a result of heavy investment in the country’s infrastructure. During the time known as the Special Period, marked by the loss of Cuba’s main trade partners, the 34.8% drop in GDP between 1989 and 1993, the abrupt 78% decline in exports and the brutal redoubling of the blockade with the adoption of the Torricelli and Helms-Burton Acts, exacerbated domestic financial imbalance, and dissatisfaction in the workplace and reduced efficiency to a marked degree, with the unemployment rate reaching 8.3% in 1995. Despite these difficulties, The Revolution maintained its unchangeable principle that no worker would be made redundant, no pensioner or person receiving social security would be denied their monthly payment and nobody would be abandoned to their fate. Through the economic recovery that began during the second half of the 90’s —never before had a country been able to overcome such a profound economic crisis with such adverse and hostile conditions in such a short time— the employment policy directed its effort towards: reducing unemployment, increasing incentives in the workplace and contributing to greater efficiency by putting countrywide programmes into practice; redistributing the redundant workforce; protecting the income of vulnerable workers and groups; guaranteeing jobs to university graduates; prioritizing the creation of jobs for young people, women, people with disabilities and graduates of professional technical education; as well as increasing self-employed labor and the cooperative sector. The state continued to generate thousands of new jobs in vitally important productive and service sectors, such as education, health, culture, tourism, construction, the steelwork industry and agriculture, as well as many others. Cuba was classified as a country with full employment according to the concepts and indicators of international organizations, when it registered a rate of 2.3% in 2004. This trend continued in 2005, with a 1.9% unemployment rate reported at the close of the year, placing Cuba among the countries in the world with the lowest levels of unemployment. Looking at employment indices in different parts of the world, we can appreciate how economically highly developed nations such as the United States (5%), the United Kingdom (4.9%), and Spain (8.4%) maintain unemployment rates that are much higher than our country's. The extraordinary success Cuba has had in this area, however, does not efface its sense of dissatisfaction, as it reminds us that there are still people who are unemployed. The Cuban labor policy is guided by the principle that in a socialist society no man can be superfluous and that unemployment has to disappear. There can be no superfluous people and any society in which this is the case is an unjust society, does not bear ethical scrutiny and is therefore condemned from the viewpoint of human rights and values. This strategy has been conceived not to reduce a statistical rate but to give all people who are willing and able to work the opportunity to do so. In Cuba, employment, and particularly youth employment, is a strategic priority. Through economic recovery, and especially as part of the battle taking place in the field of ideas that our people are waging, labor policy has been strengthened, and has had a very positive impact on the increase in the quality of life enjoyed by the Cuban people. In this framework, new social programmes, now totaling 200 , have arisen, some of which enshrine the revolutionary concept of study as a form of work, such as the Educational Improvement Course for Young People. As a result of these social programmes, nearly 15,000 social workers, more than 13,000 computer sciences teachers, more than 8,000 primary school teachers, 1,053 physical education teachers, 2,713 male nurses, 1,055 health technologists, 3,142 new community television and video room operators and tens of thousands of individuals who provide services of high social and human importance are now employed. Thousands of people with disabilities are now working through a special programme designed for them. Dozens of Centers for Labor Training have been created in the country to develop the knowledge and work skills of these people, particularly of those with slight to moderate mental handicaps. The active participation of women in society is an essential component of the Revolution’s employment policy. Whereas in 1953, only 17.6% of the working population were women —30% of whom worked in badly paid domestic jobs—in 2005, women represented more than 45% of the state-civil workforce and 66% of the country's professional and technical workforce. In the education sector, women account for 72% of the workforce; in the health sector, for 70%, in the science sector for 44.6% and in the research sector for 51.6%. In Cuba there is no forced labor, the free choice of every citizen is respected. There is no child labor, minimum age required to start working is 17 years old. Education is obligatory until grade nine. The application of the concept of having study and training count as forms of work whenever this is necessary has allowed many young people who were neither working nor studying to leave unemployment behind and improve their training in order to find better jobs or simply take their education to a higher level. This investment in the training of human capital currently benefits 107,923 young people, 30,000 of whom have enrolled in university courses. Using study as a form of work has also benefited tens of thousands of sugar workers, because this sector is in the process of an urgent and unavoidable restructuring due to the current state of the market, low sugar prices and the increased sale of artificial sweeteners. In addition to the above, the development of urban agriculture since 1996 which, as well as ensuring that the population receives an annual supply of more than three million metric tons of vegetables and fresh condiments, has had a notable social impact with the creation of around 354,000 new jobs. As a result of all the efforts made, Cuba has higher employment indicators than many industrialized and developed countries. The labor force participation rate —the percentage of the general working age population who are currently employed or are actively seeking employment— rose to 70% last year. The number of people of working age actually employed, or the employment rate, has risen to 68%. We should point out that the employment rate in the European Union is currently 64.3%. The employment levels attained by Cuba have had a favorable effect on the nation’s economic, political and social life. Since the second half of the 90’s, 1 288 973 new jobs have been created. Job creation and unemployment rates during the years of economic recovery
All these new productive, permanent and high quality jobs have helped to increase the production of material and spiritual goods for the Cuban people, to raise, both the quantity and quality of basic services and to develop the country’s human capital. Of the total of jobs generated in 2005, 45% were occupied by women and 73% by youth. An example of this contribution is the fact that in the eastern provinces, the region most affected by unemployment, the unemployment rate fell from 10.4% in 1995 to 2.7% at the end of last year. To further reduce the country's unemployment indices, the government of Cuba has traced a policy which prioritizes the employment of young people in or who have completed military service, people who are not in school and unemployed, individuals who have served sentences at penitentiary centers or who have been convicted and granted conditional facilities, graduates from different teaching specialties, women and people with disabilities. At the close of 2005, 218, 693 people in the abovementioned categories had been employed. Out of this total number, 160, 780 had found permanent employment and 57, 913 were enrolled in studies and receiving financial support. This huge effort has lead to more and improved health facilities for the people; greater and better access to education, knowledge, sports and cultural activities; more training and self-fulfillment opportunities for our young people, more benefits for Cuban women in terms of participation, economic independence and emancipation, greater social prevention of factors which cause crime and antisocial behavior, more public safety, in a word, an appreciable increase in the quality of life for all Cubans. The complete elimination of unemployment constitutes the main challenge faced by Cuba's employment policy today. This challenge calls not only for the continuous creation of new jobs but also the revolutionary transformation of concepts (including the concept of study and job training as forms of temporary employment). Cuba must also extend job possibilities, continue strengthening social work efforts and infuse its people with an even stronger work ethic. In addition to undertaking measures to reduce the number of unemployed people, the Cuban state continues to develop social benefit policies. One of the fundamental tasks of the revolution is to raise the salaries of workers, prioritizing those who receive the lowest wages, to progressively reduce the social differences spawned by the Special Period, the inevitable result of the measures Cuba saw itself forced to apply when it lost its preferential economic ties to countries in the socialist block of old and to the former USSR. On 1 May 2005, minimum wage in Cuba was raised to 225 pesos a month. Until then, minimum wage in Cuba was of 100 pesos a month. A total of 1,657,191 workers, 53% of the total workforce (accounting for 1 065 947 414 yearly pesos), benefited from this measure. The average salary raise was of 54 pesos and the country's average salary, 282 pesos, was raised to 312 pesos a month. Most workers in the education and public health sectors received wage increases. The increase in salary approved, as of 1 July 2005, benefited 857,434 workers, 96% of the budgeted activity in the sectors of public health, general, secondary and higher education. The average wage increase was of 49 pesos a month and the increase in state budgetary spending of 523,300,000. New wage increases became effective in December 2005. These benefited 2,214,213 workers and mean additional state spending of 1, 259, 400 000 pesos a year, for an average increase in monthly salaries of 43 pesos. This measure involves the application of a new wage scale, the creation of stricter system for categorizing positions and jobs, the payment of incentives in recognition of worker’s qualifications and the quality of their work and the raising of the wages of state functionaries, including those who work in central state administrative agencies and People's Power bodies. The 1,058,963 workers who benefited from the increase in wages implemented in May will also benefit from new gradual increases. The joint application of these measures this year raised the average monthly salary in Cuba from 282.00 to 312.00 pesos and it is estimated that in 2006 the average salary will reach approximately 385.00 pesos. Social security and assistance Full employment is the most important guarantee of the social security that Cubans enjoy, regardless of race, gender, religious belief or political ideology. It was conceived of as an integrated and harmonizing system, created on May 1963, which includes job, income and work condition security, security of education and training and prioritized and differential care for pregnant women and new mothers, people with disabilities, the elderly, victims of natural disasters, and anyone else in need, thus guaranteeing a decorous life to all citizens. The Cuban social security system doesn’t just hand out pensions and benefits, it is also undergoing profound changes consistent with enhancing social work and struggling to achieve full justice. The social security programme in Cuba is implemented on three basic levels: the community, the institutions and the hospitals. The state destines more than 11% of its Gross Domestic Product to its social security system, which does not include spending for health, education and services for the victims of natural disasters. In 2001, at the instance of the Council of State and in order to guarantee that people benefiting from social security were given an adequate and effective response from the government and that the financial and human resources devoted to these efforts were more efficiently controlled, the National Institute of Social Security was created, with branch offices in all of the country's provinces and municipalities. Cuba’s social security system is regulated by a series of laws, decree-laws and resolutions which make up the legal framework of its activities. A number of articles in the Constitution of the Republic of Cuba, the country's highest authoritative instrument, are devoted to this topic, placing the responsibility for guaranteeing social security for all citizens upon the Cuban state. In recent years, Cuba’s social security system has devoted special efforts to meet such aims as that of offering pensioners personalized services, fulfilling the employment plan, perfecting the system for the care and guidance of the elderly (designed especially for elderly people who live alone), perfecting services for people with disabilities and to secure their employment and extending social services. Social workers, today numbering 28,000, are working with greater zeal in different communities to help all people who require specific forms of social aid, working directly with families, young people and other citizens who are in need of guidance, friendly assistance and an effective response that will alleviate their problems. Similarly, the care of the elderly is being prioritized through different measures aimed at improving the health, physical, psychological and social wellbeing of elderly citizens. These measures include the extension of institutional, community and home social services.
Social security benefits Today, when international organizations affirm that more than half of the world’s population enjoys no social security benefits, 100% of the Cuban population enjoys social protection. The security benefits established by law, to which all workers and their respective families are entitled, are classified as: service benefits, benefits in kind and financial benefits. More than 1,800,000 citizens receive financial benefits, benefits in kind and service benefits from the social security system, 1,464,049 of whom are retired pensioners while 395,821 receive social assistance benefits In addition to service benefits that have been offered the population on a regular and continuous basis over 47 years of Revolution —such as medical and dental care, preventive and curative care, general and specialized hospital treatment and physical, psychological and work-related rehabilitation—a group of social services have been developed in recent years. These include: • Social assistance services at home Social security policies which benefit the whole of the population, addressing their concrete needs in a personalized manner, are also offered. Benefits in kind in Cuba includes: the school snack, which is provided for hundreds of thousands of students and employees of the education system free of charge, special supplies of food for 1, 363, 297 children up to the age of 15 and elderly people over 60 in the eastern provinces; 444, 019 supplies for pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, elderly people and people with disabilities; food supplements for 71,000 underweight and undersized children; delivery of additional food supplies to the hurricane-swept provinces of Pinar del Río, La Habana and Isla de la Juventud and the provinces of Holguín, Las Tunas, and five municipalities in Camagüey which are suffering from a severe drought. On 1 May 2005, in due recognition of the work of millions of men and women who devoted most of their lives to building our society, the Cuban Government raised the pensions of 1,468,641 social security beneficiaries, 97.3% of the total (an annual cost of more than 1 035,513,000 pesos). The lowest pension benefit was increased from 55 to 150 pesos, the average pension from 120 to 180 pesos. 257,038 families saw a 50-peso increase in their social security benefits. This benefited 476,512 people (for additional annual state spending of 154,222,000 pesos). The minimum social security benefit was increased from 62 to 112 pesos, the average from 92 to 129 pesos. This measure, entailing an annual state expenditure of 1,189,735,000, was aimed at raising the incomes of those with the lowest pensions and the modest social security benefits they had till then been receiving. This was possible thanks to the impetus given social programs by the country's economic and social development. At the close of 2005, as announced, the Cuban government adopted the decision for additional increases to the pensions of retirees and pensioners who were receiving the lowest amounts. At this time, the 150 pesos that the 762,433 retirees and pensioners who, as social security beneficiaries, were receiving as pensions was raised to 164 pesos. The 190 pesos received by the 443,837 retirees and pensioners as pension was increased to 202 pesos. These raises in pensions benefited 1,206,270 retirees and pensioners and entail annual spending of 192,001,272 pesos. The pensions received by all families as social security benefits were raised by 10 pesos; this benefited 476, 512 people, for annual state spending of 30,844,560 pesos. The minimum social security benefit was raised to 122 pesos. These new measures benefited I, 682,782 Cubans at an annual cost of 222,845,832 pesos. The applied increases represent an annual cost of 1 412 581 788 pesos The raising of retirement payments, pensions, social security benefits and salaries benefited 5,111,267 citizens in 2005. These measures were taken over a period of time when the genocidal US blockade was tightened and the country suffered the severe effects of hurricanes, drought and a rise in the price of oil. These actions have contributed to the individual development of all Cuban citizens, the raising of the people's standard of living, greater equality and social justice and to the creation of more efficient social assistance services, accessible to those who require them. All of this is in keeping with the humanist nature of the Cuban revolution, which places human beings at the center of all its endeavors. Care for the working mother The current legislation on maternity protection is one of the most advanced in the world. Decree Law No. 234, the Working Mother, increased the rights of the working woman and maternity protection, guaranteeing medical care for women during pregnancy, pre and postnatal leave, the breastfeeding period and care for small children, as well as differential treatment for any children with disabilities. On 23 October 2003, Resolution 22, which recognizes the shared responsibility of the mother and the father to care for and attend to their children and the sole duty of the father if the mother dies, was added to the abovementioned Decree Law which was enacted in 13 August of the same year. In order to make this protection effective, the Cuban state took certain actions, specifically the granting of financial benefits for 18 weeks and social benefits until the child’s first birthday. Complimentary paid leave was also established, which allows a certain amount of paid days-off which the worker may use to seek medical care for herself and her child and breastfeed the child during its first year of life. Unpaid leave was also established to care for children under 16 years of age. Above all, Decree Law No. 234 protects the working woman. Protection of the children of non-working mothers is given through social benefits whenever they require it. Six days or twelve half-days are given as complimentary paid leave for medical and dental visits up to the 34th week of pregnancy; if these are not enough, the management will accept any extra days as justified leave of absence. Until the child’s first birthday, one day of paid leave is given every month so that mother and child can go to the pediatric hospital. All working mothers who return to work at the end of their maternity leave are allowed to breastfeed their child for an hour a day, until the baby’s first birthday. When a child goes to nursery school and receives medical care there, the working mother is allowed to take one day off a month to take her child to the pediatrician. In these two situations, the medical care has different purposes, that is to say, one doesn’t replace the other. The female worker has to stop working at 34 weeks of pregnancy and at 32 if it is a multiple pregnancy. Economic benefits are given in the form of 18 weeks full-paid leave, 6 weeks before the child is born and 12 after. She also receives economic benefits if the birth does not take place during the period established for the maternity leave and this can be extended up until the date that the baby is born. This new period is paid for up to two weeks. When the birth is early or late, the adjustment in payment of the financial benefits is made per full week in favor of the worker and always during the period of maternity leave, which begins to be paid from the day that the baby is born. If the mother dies, the father or a working relative chosen by him to collect the social benefits will receive 60% of the average monthly salary that the mother earned during the 12 months prior to her death. If the female worker falls ill after the payment of the postnatal leave period has expired, she may receive the social benefits established in the aforementioned Decree Law until the child is one year old. If after this time, the worker is still ill, she is entitled to subsidy payments. Once the postnatal period enjoyed by the worker has come to an end and within a period of 60 subsequent calendar days, both parents can decide which one of them will care for the child during its first year of life. If the female worker falls ill before 34 or 32 weeks and has to rest, she will be paid a sickness benefit up until the 32nd or 34th week of pregnancy, when the payment of the financial benefits begins. When a female worker receives social or financial benefits due to pregnancy and motherhood, the days are recorded as if she were working and the money she is given is the salary that she would have been earning. The period in which she receives social benefits is acknowledged as if she was working and the salary allocated serves as a basis on which to calculate the benefits paid. Care of the elderly, retired and pensioners Cuba is one of the Latin American countries with the largest elderly populations in the world. The magnitude and rapid nature of the changes of our population pyramid constitute a significant challenge that Cuba will have to face in coming years. Around 14% of the country’s population is over the age of 60 and according to some studies, by the year 2025, one in four Cubans will be a senior citizen. This is a feature characteristic of developed countries, and is relatively new for Cuba. The population in Europe, for example, has been aging since the 19th century. In Cuba, this phenomenon has been stepped up by the development achieved by the Revolution, the concomitant increase in the population’s life expectancy and the reduction in the birth rate, the latter being the result of the increase in schooling and the incorporation of women into the workplace. A decreasing rate of renovation and replacement of the workforce constitutes another challenge. Since increased work productivity is an effective response to this phenomenon, several variants which encourage people of retirement age, who are physically, intellectually and psychologically able to work, to remain in the workforce are being studied. In order to deal with matters associated with an aging population, the Programme for the Elderly, which places particular emphasis on caring for people who cannot face life alone, was created in 1974. In the course of years, this program has been perfected to offer a comprehensive response to the demands and needs of elderly people. The program sees the active participation not only of hospital and social security institutions but also of families, the community and political, social and non-government organizations, working in a joint endeavor that places elderly people at the center. In 1995 the Programme of All-Round Care for the Elderly was conceived as one of the priorities of the Ministry of Public Health. In addition to coordinating the efforts of different institutions to aid the elderly, this program offers services at different levels, not exclusively in the area of health, but also in other areas such as social security, sports and culture. The program is made up of three sub-programs: • Institutional services The institutional services are aimed at: • Medically fragile and vulnerable elderly people Today there are 432 multidisciplinary gerontology teams, one in every polyclinic in the country, whose mission is to look after the elderly in a fragile state of health or others in need of long term care due to biomedical, psychological, social or economic reasons or because they have been abandoned by their families. There are 127 residential homes for the elderly around the country, which care for around 9,000 elderly people. Here they are provided with food, clothing and the help they require. In terms of community work, all elderly residents within a community are subjected to a multidisciplinary and multi-dimensional evaluation which allows community workers to diagnose the overall health situation in this community and to design strategies aimed at addressing the bio-social needs of the elderly. The community programme also includes community groups for the elderly, community houses (where help is given to those unable to wash themselves, socialize and even speak on the telephone) and house care, which is given to 59,000 old people who live alone. The Community Groups for the Elderly currently have 500,000 members, who make up the 11,000 affiliate groups which work to promote health issues and health prevention. Today, we also have Guidance and Recreation Groups which are made up of elderly people, both members and non-members of the Community Groups for the Elderly, the purpose of which is to involve the elderly in recreational, cultural or educational activities or to help them rejoin the labor force, either as paid or volunteer workers. Elderly people are encouraged to take part in cultural, sporting and recreational activities. Today, there are 636 University Faculties and Branches for the Elderly across Cuba, from which more than 30,000 participants have graduated. These schools offer courses on cultural, scientific, technical and social issues. We are striving to ensure that all Cubans have an active, healthy and happy old age, by promoting the full integration and participation of all elderly people in society. In terms of hospital care, personalized medical services are offered elderly people who have fragile medical conditions by teams of specialists. An effort is made to have different specialists attend to elderly people who are hospitalized. In the University Faculties for the Elderly, computer courses specifically designed for this age group are offered. We are striving to ensure that all Cubans have an active, healthy and happy old age, by promoting the full integration and participation of all elderly people in society. There are geriatric wards in all of the country’s clinical and surgical centers (34 in total). Internationally known geriatricians such as Robert Butler, president of the International Longevity Centre of the United States, have publicly acknowledged the priority given to the elderly by the Cuban government. The distinguished American geriatrician said that he was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Cuban people have such a positive attitude towards the family, something that he considers to be very important for the elderly. He highlighted the importance of the creation of elderly people’s groups and societies whose aim is to make sure that their members socialize and are involved in useful activities. Care of people with disabilities Over the last four decades, the Cuban state has taken on the task of attending to the various factors that could cause disability, and with ensuring that all those affected by any disability are fully protected and have a wide range of opportunities to develop their potential in the areas of health, education, employment and complete social integration. Permanently improving the quality of life for the differently-able is an aim that has been fulfilled, thanks to the continuous improvement of completely free, specialized health services; the design and organization of differential rehabilitation programmes; top quality care for mother and child; the promotion of general all-round education —including sex and reproductive education; the prevention of drug use and rehabilitation of drug users and alcoholics; the development of a complete system of specialized schools attending to various disabilities; the extension of plans to rehabilitate the differently-able people from anywhere in the country and incorporate them into the workforce; the increase in measures to control epidemics and the development of specialized research; the facilities and support given to associations for differently-able people, etc. To this end, in 1995 the National Action Plan for the Care of People with Disabilities was set in motion to design, execute and control policies relating to disabilities and to coordinate the work of all ministries and institutions in the field. The Plan, which works at all levels from the municipal to the national, has harmonized the efforts of state agencies, associations for people with disabilities and other social and grassroots organizations, achieving a rigorous coordination with respect to employment, accessibility, health, education, training and the use of information and communication technologies. The achievements made in this area of social policy have been based on: • Providing free medical, hospital and dental care to all. Various programmes are being developed to care for and guide people with disabilities. Work is guaranteed for those who are interested in working and posses a skill —identified in the nationwide in-depth psycho-pedagogical, social and clinical-genetic study, which is the is the only one in the world of its magnitude and social importance— making it easier for them to obtain ordinary employment, work in special workshops or social labor training centers. People with disabilities have a guaranteed right to paid work. The special employment program (PROENDIS) is designed to evaluate and find jobs for people with disabilities. This program includes: • 134 special workshops designed to offer jobs to people with disabilities, currently employing 4,600 people with disabilities. Security benefits are also available for workers with disabilities that cannot continue working due to illness, motherhood, partial or total disablement and age. In case of death, the family of the worker receives these benefits. For several years now, a group of genetics, immunochemistry, neonatology and intensive therapy programmes have made it possible to reduce the incidence of some congenital diseases and other perinatal traumata that cause disabilities. Some example are: • The discovery of Alfa-feto proteins in pregnant women, developed to diagnose defects in the neural tube at the prenatal stage. Over the last few years this has proved to be a useful way to diagnose some types of malformations of the nervous system, with the aid of ultrasound. In addition to these, several community rehabilitation programmes have been created and are now up and running and equipped with: An extensive system of schools, semi-boarding and boarding schools and special scholarships is in place to attend to different kinds of disabilities. At the beginning of 2005, a total of 418 Special Education Centers were in operation; they had an enrollment of 45,620 students with disabilities or behavioral problems and 14,642 teachers, for a 3.1:1 student-teacher ratio, a student-teacher ratio which allows these institutions to attend to the particular needs of each student. Of the total number of teachers in special education programs, 841 give classes at special homes or in hospital classrooms. A total of 17, 000 psychologists, speech therapists and special education specialists are also involved in these programs. The special education system is made up of: • 263 schools for the mentally challenged Protection is guaranteed to people with disabilities who are in need of service benefits or benefits in kind. • Provincial and national sporting events. Differently-able people have founded various associations with a view to making their participation in the design and application of policies and programmes around the country more effective, to channeling their initiatives, and concerns and to having a greater influence on finding solving their problems, to strengthening their ties with foreign organizations for people with disabilities and to deal with any other matter of interest to them. Among the main non-governmental organizations for differently-able people are: • The National Association for the Blind (ANCI).with 19 000 members The Cuban associations for differently-able people maintain relations with equivalent organizations in the region and around the world. Some of their leaders have responsibilities in international associations and regularly attend their meetings. The gradual elimination of architectural barriers has been another aim proposed in programs to promote and protect the rights of the differently-able. To do this, Cuban regulation 53-199:90 was drafted. All building projects are reviewed by state inspectors and inspectors from the Associations of Persons with Disabilities. Affirmative action programs exist in areas around the community in order to eliminate these barriers. Extensive work is underway to raise public awareness of the specific needs of people with disabilities, using methods such as: • Radio and television programmes. Among the governmental programmes and plans that are underway and which are having an especially positive effect on differently-able persons, are: training home care givers to attend to disabled people in their own homes; helping mothers of severely disabled children, which includes paying a salary to those who have to stay at home and care for young children with severe disabilities; broadening and enhancing specialized and complementary services that offer laundry and hairdressing services, etc.; increasing the ration allowance and paying subsidies for food to differently-able people in need, according to their specific requirements; creating facilities that make it possible for them to eat in local restaurants and cafeterias. In short, despite the serious effects of the genocidal blockade imposed on Cuba and maintained by successive US administrations for more than 4 decades, and the fact that it this an underdeveloped country with scarce resources, the Revolution has converted the goals that continue to be veritable chimeras for most peoples around the world into a reality for all Cuban men and women: full employment and the application of an effective system of social security and assistance, which ensures than no-one will be left to any unlucky twist of fate. Work-related services for people with HIV/AIDS Nine out of ten people in the world living with HIV/AIDS are of working age. Many of them suffer forms of discrimination, intolerance and the fear of others and have no recourse to labor legislation that protects them. Cuba's National Program for the Control and Prevention of HIV/AIDS envisages not only medical treatment for infected individuals but also ethical and labor-related norms for their inclusion in the workforce. The fact that someone has HIV/AIDS does not mean he or she must cease working. If the person is physically capable of working, he or she can continue to contribute to society. In order to offer people with HIV/AIDS legal protection and support, in 1997 the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) and the Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MTSS) passed Resolution No. 13/97. This Resolution establishes that it is the responsibility of MINSAP authorities to decide whether a worker can or cannot perform a certain job. The Resolution also establishes that those workers who are diagnosed with the Human Immune-deficiency Virus (HIV) or as carriers of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) who are part of the Outpatient System (OS) reserve the right to return to their respective positions and workplaces. When the competent authority of the National Health System deems it necessary or when, owing to the nature of the work carried out by the worker, there is reason to suppose that his/her readmission at the workplace would entail a risk to third persons, the employer must refer the patient to the Medical Survey Commission which corresponds to that workplace, so that the latter can arrive at a decision in this connection. Depending on the decision taken, the worker will be reinstated or shall be subject to the provisions in effect with respect to partial or total disability, as applicable. In the case of patients who are not employed and express an interest in finding employment, the competent authority, if it deems it necessary, will refer the patient to the corresponding Medical Survey Commission, so that it may determine, in consideration of the patient’s aptitude for work and the nature of the illness, what risks the patient can be exposed to at the workplace. Municipal Labor Bureaux are responsible for finding work for patients in the OS who are not employed and wish to find work. While patients who are HIV or AIDS carriers undergo evaluations designed to determine their eligibility for the OS, they receive the medical subsidy established for hospitalized workers. The days on which the worker infected with HIV or AIDS leaves work for his/her monthly or weekly medical check-up (as part of the National Program for the Care of People with AIDS) are considered to be justified absences from work and, as such, the worker is paid for those days. Workers and individuals who are currently hospitalized and who have been in the Hospital System since the passing of the abovementioned resolution, maintain these salary privileges and social security benefits. Those who have been admitted into the OS after the date the resolution was passed, who have been newly admitted into the sanatorium or other hospital institutions used for these purposes or those who, for exceptional reasons or the peculiarities of their conditions, receive treatment at home, receive the same benefits. For any work-related matter which is not expressly covered by the Resolution, the labor, social security and social assistance provisions applicable to regular workers and other members of the population shall apply.
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