El Instituto de Pedro Kouri (IPK) is located on the western edge of La Havana, Cuba. It is a fully comprehensive research institution, hospital, teaching facility and laboratory dedicated to tropical medicine and infectious disease. It is known throughout Cuba as the best place to receive medical care and throughout the world as the premier institute of tropical medicine in Latin America. However, most in-patients are HIV positive and visiting for only a week or two before returning to an AIDS Sanitorium or their own houses.
Cuba's revolution is entering its 46th year. Ever since Fidel Castro took power in 1959 the island has been trapped in time with little room for modernization. Even so, Cuba outpaces the United States by offering universal heath care to its citizens in addition to a free education for all. Cuba's healthcare system would be even stronger if the United States did not prevent much needed medicine from entering the island. To compensate, Cuba has started manufacturing its own pharmaceuticals, including antiretrovirals, to combat HIV/AIDS.
The island suffers from a very low (self-reported) HIV infection rate, due in part to forcing all HIV positive residents in the early 1990's into sanatoriums. Although sanatorium residency is now optional, many HIV positive Cubans choose to live in the facilities as they offer comprehensive medical care, meals, housing, and recreational activities for free. Fidel Castro's grip is strengthened amid statistics of low infant mortality rates and high life expectancies. The stronger the health system, the greater the power Castro can keep over his people. Such a phenomenon begs the question of how the Cuban health system collects its data and most importantly, how those data are portrayed.
Cubans are faced with the challenge of deciding whether social services compensate for social oppression. The depth and strength of Castro's grip prevents political dissidence from surviving for long. Even so, Cuba is still the jewel of the Caribbean and attracts thousands of foreign visitors each year. Havana in particular capitalizes on the tourist industry while still trying to monitor all Cuban behavior in a weird mixture of contradiction and paradox, complicating the Cuban psychology and confusing fact with fiction.
There are twelve portraits within this series from IPK. Each individual brings their own story to the camera.
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