Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton
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Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton
Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton disclosed that Cuban healthcare workers remain in the local system, despite concerns raised by the US government about the exploitation of Cuban health missions in the Caribbean.
On February 25, the US announced that it would impose visa restrictions for both government officials in Cuba and any others who are complicit with its overseas medical assistant programmes.
The sanction extends to current and former officials and the immediate family of such persons.
Jamaica has insisted that it is not involved in exploiting Cuban health professionals who have been working on the island for many years.
Speaking in the House of Representatives on Tuesday afternoon, Dr. Tufton denied that Jamaica was sending home Cuban doctors and nurses due to pressure from the US government.
However, he disclosed that Jamaica was seeking to include health professionals from other countries to fill vacancies in public health.
"I want to just say very clearly that we value the partnership with Cuba. We value their contribution. Currently, we have 88 Cuban doctors and 199 nurses here, and I want to just recognise the initiative and their efforts. Hopefully we continue to build on that," he said.
"The future of HR in health will require more collaboration however, using technology and friendships to fill the gaps that have been and are being created from a highly mobile labour force. We have to look wider, think deeper and address our traditional thinking around who and how to get more skills in health care," admitted the minister.
To this end, he said the government has started to explore "long-term relationships in training and clinical exchanges" with India, the Philippines and Nigeria.
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