Cuba sends 500 doctors to Mexico to combat coronavirus

The Ministry of Public Health in Cuba (MINSAP) has announced the sending 500 toilets to the Mexican capital to combat the epidemiological crisis caused by the coronavirus in that country.

According to the MINSAP web portal, this group is the second of its kind sent to reduce the impact of the pandemic in the Central American country. The professionals belong to a brigade of the “Henry Reeve” International Contingent Specialized in Disaster Situations and Serious Epidemics.

Months ago, after The first group with 800 collaborators will work on mitigating the virus, the head of Government of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinabaum, indicated in a press conference that the collaboration agreements had been made through a “transparent contract”, and invited health professionals from other parts of the world to collaborate with their country.

However, the presence of Cuban doctors has awakened controversies in that country due to their high cost and the activities they carry out. According to EFE reports, twelve professional associations of health specialists have denounced that Cuban doctors are privileged over Mexican ones. The Health Institute for Wellbeing (Insabi) of Mexico paid around 6 million dollars to Cuba for this agreement, also guaranteeing coverage for lodging, food and transportation for Cubans.

The National Office of Statistics and Information has declared that the export of health services and personnel is the main source of foreign exchange earnings for Cuba. In 2018, the only year in which the authorities issued details on how much is earned for this concept, they reported 6.4 billion dollars.

With the restriction on doctors' access to a regular passport, Cuban legislation limits their right to leave the country. Those who leave on internationalist missions receive so-called “official” passports that are only valid during the period of work outside the island. Due to this condition, as well as the clause that forces them to pay 75% of the payment that the destination countries offer as salary to the Cuban State, the rapporteurs of the United Nations Organization (UN) for contemporary forms of slavery and human trafficking, as well as Human Rights Watch, have alerted the Cuban authorities and demanded information on the matter.

Almost at the end of the year, the “Henry Reeve” contingent has sent 54 brigades, with a total of 4,000 professionals from the National Health System, to 39 nations to mitigate the effects of Covid-19.