Jamaica now has 200 Cuban health workers on individual contracts, Tufton tells parliament

KINGSTON, Jamaica. Jamaica's public health system now employs 200 Cuban health professionals under individual employment contracts, Health and Wellness Minister Christopher Tufton has said.

Tufton gave the figures during debate on a parliamentary motion on Cuba's economic and humanitarian situation, which the House of Representatives approved on 27 October.

The doctors, nurses and other specialists are assigned to the Regional Health Authorities and the University Hospital of the West Indies, following the end of the previous government-to-government arrangement.

How the arrangement changed

Tufton said the earlier bilateral agreements expired in February 2023. The government then sought renewed cooperation on terms that complied with Jamaican law and international labour conventions, including provisions for Cuban professionals to receive their salaries directly and keep possession of their travel documents.

When negotiations failed to produce agreement on those terms, the government ended the arrangement in March and offered individual employment contracts instead.

Of the 278 Cuban health professionals in Jamaica at the time, 43 accepted the new arrangements and stayed. A further 57 who had initially returned to Cuba have since come back under the new contracts.

Tufton said the government remained willing to accommodate others who wanted to return to work in the health sector.

Relations with Cuba

He said the contractual changes should not be seen as a weakening of relations between the two countries, recalling Cuba's help during the Covid-19 pandemic and after natural disasters.

"When we were in distress as a people, in times of shortage, in the aftermath of disasters, in the dark days of the pandemic, Cuba rose to the occasion," he said.

Tufton also voiced Jamaica's support for humanitarian assistance to Cuba, pointing to shortages of medicines, medical supplies, food and energy, and said Jamaica remained committed to relations with Cuba based on friendship and mutual respect.