Another 70 Cuban doctors will be sent to the Calabria regionlocated in the south of Italy, while the island’s health system presents serious problems of staff and resource shortagesas well as a constant deterioration of its infrastructure and the patient trust.
The group of doctors is made up of specialists in the areas of emergency, gynecology, orthopedics, radiology, cardiology and pediatrics, and will join the brigade of 274 professionals that provide services in that region of the European country, indicated a statement published in the Gazzetta del Sud.
This agreement occurs in a context marked by the gradual reduction of health personnel -largely because of migratory exodus and the economic deficiencies-, a fact that has been worrying since 2022 when the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI) indicated that during that year they were working in the country 12,065 fewer doctors than in 2021.
Despite being classified as “forced labor” by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Cuban medical missions continue to integrate professionals into their payrolls, under the premise of “helping those most in need.”
The latter was stated by the coordinator of the brigade in Calabria, pediatrician Iván Martínez, who alluded to the leadership of Fidel Castro and his interest in the “training of specialists in various sectors, including medicine, to help Third World countries.” .
In an interview given to the Italian newspaper on May 31, he noted that on this occasion the request comes from “one of the most economically important countries”, but which faces a complex health situation.
The government of Calabria had “the courage to ask for support from those who always help with their doctors and naturally we accepted, and although at first it was not easy, the Cuban doctors, with their skills, overcame all mistrust and the experience so far is extraordinary,” Martínez assured.
According to the Cuban state agency Latin Pressshortly after signing a framework agreement in August 2022, the first group of 51 doctors arrived in Italy, to whom 120 were added in August 2023 and another 106 in January of the current year.
The figure should rise to 500 in 2024which will expand the service already provided in 27 hospitals in the five Calabrian provinces: Catanzaro, Cosenza, Crotone, Reggio Calabria and Vibo Valentia, the note states.
The government of the Calabria region was formally accused by the NGO Prisoners Defenders, in December 2022, due to alleged practices of human trafficking, slavery, persecution and other inhuman acts against Cuban doctors, to which Italy established the ”subordinated fixed-term contract”instead of the previous contract freelance.
The rest of the complaints presented to the United Nations and the International Criminal Court were left without action, among them, the delivery to the Cuban government of 75% of the salary, which leaves for the doctors a stipend of less than 60% of the average salary of the country.
