More than 800 Cuban health professionals are working in Mexico

According to sources in the federal government’s Health Secretariat, almost 800 Cuban doctors and health workers are operating in Mexico to deal with the coronavirus, COVID-19.

The Health Secretariat explained that they had been directly attending to a delegation of Cuban doctors for several weeks. They supported with lodging, food, and transportation to medical centers.

The capital’s Secretariat of Economic Development (Sedeco) told EFE that they have a count of 800 Cuban doctors, nurses, and health professionals who are staying in Mexico City.

The hotels have been granted by businessmen in exchange for the federal government’s benefits to accommodate these health professionals. In recent days, an article was published explaining that several of these Cuban doctors were staying at the Hotel Imperial, on Paseo de la Reforma.

The information added that most of the doctors – up to 720 – worked in Mexico City and its suburbs, where there are more cases. However, some were sent to other states.

“We have a health cooperation agreement with Cuba for some time now. In particular, now for the attention of the pandemic, several Cuban doctors and nurses are here, in different hospitals of the city“, said last Friday the head of Government of the CDMX, Claudia Sheinbaum under the excuse that Mexico suffers from a deficit of doctors and nurses, which has been proved false, since there are plenty of health professionals, except the federal government does not want to pay them full wages.

The collaboration is in conjunction with the Institute of Health for Welfare (Insabi), the Ministry of Health of the Government of Mexico City, and the Cuban government, said Claudia Sheinbaum. “It is part of this international collaboration. It is good that these nurses and nurse specialists are supporting us in a critical way in Mexico City,” she said.

On April 24, the federal Health Secretariat published an agreement in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF), establishing that “for the duration of the health emergency generated by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, health professionals with training abroad” could be hired.

The Undersecretary for Prevention and Health Promotion, Hugo López-Gatell, explained at the time that Mexico City had indeed identified collaboration with the Cuban doctors. “The role of this personnel is to help with the enormous experience that the members of the Republic of Cuba’s health team have in public health, at this moment it is vital,” (SIC) said Lopez-Gatell.

On April 8, Mexico’s Foreign Ministry reported the arrival of ten Cuban experts to evaluate the COVID-19 pandemic but without providing “medical services to the population”. “The visit of the Cuban specialists represents a sample of the historical friendship that Mexico has in Cuba,” the Foreign Ministry said.