In the midst of the acute crisis of public health services in Cuba, 2,700 doctors will leave their positions on the island to join the nearly one thousand Cuban professionals who provide assistance in hospitals in Mexico, as announced by the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador on Tuesday.
During his daily morning press conference at the National Palace, the Mexican president announced the upcoming arrival of the doctors and reiterated his gratitude to the Cuban government for supporting his administration's plans to provide an adequate number of personnel to the public health system.
While the shortage of doctors in hospitals, polyclinics, and clinics in communities and neighborhoods in Cuba, along with the scarcity of medicines and supplies, pose a risk to the health of the Cuban population, the government of Miguel Díaz-Canel is increasing the export of qualified medical personnel to Mexico and other countries.
The 2,700 specialists who will arrive on an unspecified date in Mexican territory will join the 950 who are already providing services in hospitals in 23 states, increasing the total number of Cuban healthcare workers in the country to 3,650.
Zoé Robledo, General Director of the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), said on Tuesday at the press conference that the Cuban doctors who will arrive are mainly specialists in internal medicine, pediatrics, and emergency care, who will join the care provided in 282 hospitals located mostly in rural or marginalized areas.
"We are going to achieve that these hospitals have an average of 12 doctors on staff," said Robledo, who argued that the goal is to bring health services closer to the population that lacks social security coverage.
In mid-May, Díaz-Canel met with Robledo to finalize agreements related to the contract for 1,200 Cuban doctors in Mexico.
A month before, the director of the Mexican IMSS assured in Havana that the institution was working with the Cuban government to expand the collaboration of doctors to unprecedented levels.
The president-elect of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, announced earlier this month that she will continue to hire doctors from the island, despite strong criticisms labeling the program as a form of financing for the Cuban dictatorial regime.
Sheinbaum revealed that, in a meeting with the Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez, the possibility of continuing to bring Cuban doctors to Mexico was discussed, at least during the first year of her administration (2024-2030).
Meanwhile, voices in Mexico continue to question the government's decision to hire Cuban professionals without taking into account "a validation of their studies."
Recently, Dr. Francisco Moreno, who was the head of medicine at the ABC Medical Center in Mexico City, criticized the AMLO administration for hiring Cuban doctors without verifying the quality and training of these professionals, whereas, in contrast, Mexicans are required to provide a large amount of documentation in order to practice the profession.
Moreno pointed to the president as responsible for putting the health of the people in the hands of professionals whose academic knowledge is unknown.
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