What can a doctor buy with his salary in Cuba?

Being a doctor was for a long time an admired profession in Cuba. It required effort for their academic training, but the work was well paid and they were well-known public figures.

The current reality of Cuban doctors is very different. They do not escape extreme poverty. After the application of the regime's erroneous economic measures, their salaries are increasingly precarious. Many are leaving jobs to emigrate or dedicate themselves to other functions, away from the health sector.

How much does a doctor earn in Cuba?

Despite being among the best-paid professionals in Cuba, doctors face, like the rest of the workers, a reality marked by inflation, the country's low productivity and extreme shortages.

In 2024, the health sector introduced "salary improvements" that contemplate "the payment of night shifts, additional payment for exposure and complexity, for years of service and for maximum effort." However, these increases are perceived by doctors as "derisory."

Behind the 2021 salary reform, the salary of a newly graduated doctor was set at 4,610 pesos per month. The figure increases to 5,060 pesos when they do residency. Upon completion of the specialty, the salary increases slightly to 5,560 pesos.

Doctors with greater specialization (those who have two specialties) can earn up to 5,810 pesos per month. Some of these health professionals have teaching and scientific status. In those cases they charge a bonus, as well as for seniority.

In total, a highly qualified doctor with more than 20 years of professional experience, who publishes periodic scientific publications and has teaching experience, could be earning 7,500 pesos in Cuba.

Although it may seem like a considerable value within the local context, the reality of purchasing power is different when comparing the salary with the price of the dollar in the irregular currency market, where 20 USD is equivalent to 7,840 CUP. A Cuban doctor earns approximately 20 dollars a month.

What things can a Cuban doctor buy with his salary?

To put into perspective what this salary represents in terms of purchasing power, let's examine some current prices of food and basic products:

• 1 box of chicken, 28 pounds: $32.
• 1 box of chicken mince, 18 kg: 37 USD.
• 10 pounds of Pork Meat Price: 35 USD.
• 1 kilogram of powdered milk: 1,800 CUP.
• 1 pound of bread: 100 to 120 CUP.
• 1 pound of white sugar: 300 CUP, and brown sugar: 250 CUP.
• 1 book of sunflower oil: 1,300 CUP
• 1 pound of beans: 300 CUP; of rice: 180 CUP.
• 1 carton of eggs: 3,100 CUP
• 1 bottle of cola: 500 CUP; a beer: 220 CUP.
• 1 package of sweet cookies: between 300 and 800 CUP.
• 1 pound of fish: 270 CUP; and on these dates if it were snapper: 350 CUP.
• 1 cup of coffee: 20 CUP.

These costs demonstrate that, even for physicians, covering basic needs is a constant challenge, significantly limiting their quality of life and well-being.

The doctor's salary must be deducted from the payment of electricity, water, transportation to get to work, daycare if he has children, daily living expenses and regulated basic basket which already exceeds 1,500 pesos, despite these foods being "subsidized" by the State.

Doctors are professionals who work directly with the population. It is a very sensitive sector that the State left behind.

The salary is not enough for them to survive. Many have had to sell their cars, acquired after decades of work, because they do not have enough money to buy fuel, maintain the vehicles, pay for basic services and guarantee food in their homes.

Cuban doctors must go to consultations by public transportation, show up to perform surgery physically exhausted, care for patients while themselves being stressed, and spend nights on duty poorly fed.

This reality highlights the direct consequences of the regime's policies, which have exacerbated adverse economic conditions, pushing many professionals to reconsider their permanence in the island's public health system.