Healthcare in Republican Cuba: General Fulgencio Batista National Anti-Tuberculosis Sanatorium (1899 - 1958)

Abstract

This research analyzes the socioeconomic, political, health, and technological context surrounding the General Fulgencio Batista National Anti-Tuberculosis Sanatorium, the only one of its kind in Neocolonial Cuba from 1899 to 1958. Through bibliographical and documentary research, the elements that distinguished this building, the characteristics of modernity imposed in its design, the implementation of innovative techniques to combat the disease, the climatic conditions of the place, and the medical equipment used were determined. Likewise, the construction and subsequent development of the sanatorium led to a redesign of the landscape of the mountainous region of Topes de Collantes in central Cuba, and, consequently, a change in the social, economic, and cultural dynamics of its inhabitants.