The Cuban Doctors Brigade is here to help fight the Covid-19. This selfless act is motivated by the high level of international solidarity of the Cubans
, tweeted South African Minister-Counselor Jackson Mthembu. South Africa is one of 23 countries to which Cuba has dispatched “brigades” with a total of 1,466 caregivers
But the arrival of 216 “white coats” in Pretoria on April 27 has caused uproar in the country.
However, nothing new under the southern sun: Cuba has sent doctors to rural South Africa since 1997, even if their lack of knowledge of local languages has proven to be a major handicap. Havana also trains South African medical students. The party in power in Pretoria, the African National Congress, has always had special ties to the Castro regime which supported it during the struggle against apartheid.
US bloodshed
This time Washington has stepped up to the plate, calling on South Africa to follow the example of Brazil, Ecuador and Bolivia, who dismissed Cuban doctors before the Covid-19 crisis. Countries that accept Cuban caregivers help the Cuban government take advantage of human trafficking
said Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state for foreign affairs. Cuba deploys 28,000 caregivers
in 67 countries and foreign exchange earnings would earn six times more than tourism. Between 2011 and 2015, according to former Cuban Minister of Economy José Luis Rodriguez Garcia, the annual windfall amounted to $ 11 billion.
The Cuban Embassy in Pretoria immediately replied that Havana would continue to pay the wages of its white coats (€ 50 per month), South Africa only reimbursing the costs of transport, accommodation and food. However, according to a document published by the newspaper Business day, the South African government has set aside 22 million euros for the deployment of 187 Cubans for a year. The bill would therefore be € 117,650 per doctor, including € 78,000 in salary, paid to the Cuban authorities.
The South African Medical Association (Sama), which claims to represent 70% of the country’s doctors, immediately stepped up to the plate. Most of our 15,000 retired doctors would love to help fight the pandemic, says Angelique Coetzee, president of Sama. We also have doctors waiting for an assignment. However, they cost half the cost of Cubans.
South African Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize would like to take as a model Cuban preventive medicine
. But South Africa is mostly short of specialists to fight the Covid, not generalists.
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