The Argentine journalist and influencer Melina Moriatis shared a video on her social media showing what a Cuban doctor can buy with their salary in the MLC stores in Havana.
"I'm going shopping around Havana with a doctor's salary. Let's see what I buy. Supermarket products are priced in dollars," pointed out Moriatis (@melimoriatisfit) on TikTok.
The Argentine influencer, who has previously portrayed the Cuban reality, detailed the purchase she made at an MLC store: milk for 2.30, flour for 1.35, a bottle of oil for nearly 3 dollars, and mineral water for 2.70.
"Crazy and half of the salary is already gone," Moriatis emphasized.
"I completed it with cookies for 2.65 and a shampoo for 5.60. With a doctor's salary, I bought a total of six products and spent 17.55 USD," he emphasized, noting that at the current exchange rate, it would be about 5,700 pesos approximately.
For the Argentine journalist, it is astonishing that a doctor cannot meet their basic needs with a professional salary, but that is the harsh reality faced by thousands of doctors in Cuba every day.
In 2024, the health sector introduced "salary improvements" that include "payment for night shifts, additional payment for exposure and complexity, for years of service, and for maximum effort."
However, these increases are perceived by doctors as "laughable."
After the salary reform of 2021, the salary of a newly graduated doctor was set at 4,610 pesos per month. The figure increases to 5,060 pesos when they begin their residency. Upon completing the specialty, the salary increases slightly to 5,560 pesos.
Doctors with higher specialization (those who have two specialties) can earn up to 5,810 pesos per month.
Some of these health professionals hold teaching and scientific positions. In those cases, they receive an additional payment, just like for seniority.
However, due to the extra effort, depending on the type of service they work in and the number of shifts they perform, a specialist doctor with 20 years of experience can earn up to 16,000 pesos.
A specialist doctor from Las Tunas, contacted by CiberCuba on the condition of anonymity, explained that "overexertion" varies according to the number of positions filled in each hospital.
“At the end of the month, I receive about 10,000 pesos extra for 'overtime,' which in the case of the hospital where I work is due to the fact that there are about five specialist positions unfilled, which means we take shifts every fifth day, but we share their salary among six doctors,” he explained.
However, even with the famous "over-effort," a doctor cannot meet their needs for the month.
"It barely covers the needs of two people, for food and hygiene, without any luxuries of any kind, for 15 days," he noted.
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