For 60 years, the United States has enforced a crippling embargo against the island of Cuba in order to “bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government,” according to a 1960 State Department memorandum. But against the odds, Cuba has developed a revolutionary model of scientific innovation and medical provision that has not only ensured universal health care for its own citizens, but also — through its world-renowned medical brigades — delivered high-quality care to millions of people across the Global South free of charge.