The boom of tourism in the largest Antillean island, favored by its privileged geographical location, hundreds of kilometers of excellent beaches and an almost virgin natural environment, is accompanied by a quest for health by several thousands of visitors each year.

Along with those who seek the sun, white sands and warm waters, there are those interested in combining their vacations with a program that provides them with an ideal physical state, with the final goal of achieving a better quality of life.

An excellent health system, with institutions designed to provide each specific treatment, places health tourism in the largest Antillean island in an good condition to meet the needs of demanding clients, regarding their physical and mental recovery.

First-line programs and techniques attract visitors to facilities such as the International Center of Retinitis Pigmentosa, where different ophthalmologic pathologies are treated, or the Placenta Histotherapy Center, specialized in skin treatments and the cure of a disease known as vitiligo.

Drug addicts and alcoholics, many of whom had been diagnosed with no cure in their countries, put an end to their addiction in Cuba, where they were supported by a pleasant and calm natural environment, combined with the careful and personalized attention of Cuban professionals and institutions.

Treatments to regulate body weight and to fight stress and aging and regular medical checkups form part of a wide gamut of services provided to tourists who wish to give a new meaning to their vacations in this country, one of the main destinations in the Caribbean.

Many of the natural offers to improve the quality of life have their antecedents in the past, as in the case of the San Diego de los Baños Spa - in the western province of Pinar del Río - which was accidentally discovered by a slave three centuries ago.

The legend says that the slave, who was expelled from the farm because he suffered from a strange skin disease, discovered a spot where he cured his disease with the warm water of a river. That place became a spa in 1700, and ever since, it has been visited by personalities of science, culture and politics.

However, San Diego de los Baños finds its competition in central Cuba, where Elguea combines the benefits of its mining-medicinal waters with mud therapy, which is very effective to treat ailments affecting the joints and in cosmetology.

In order to enjoy the goodness of health tourism in Cuba, which has been developed throughout the archipelago, it is not essential to be ill, it is enough that you wish to improve the quality of your life and the island will do the rest.

In today's modern world, where life is so fast and intense, a pause to approach natural and spiritual things is always well received by people, who find the conditions necessary to restore the balance and to face new challenges.