The Cuban doctors are back! 200 medics to bolster Jamaica’s health system

Jamaica’s public health sector has received a major boost with the return of 157 Cuban doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals, months after hundreds of Cuban medical workers left the island amid the fallout from the collapse of the longstanding Jamaica-Cuba medical cooperation programme.

The latest arrivals strengthen Jamaica’s healthcare workforce and bring the total number of Cuban medical professionals now serving in the country to 200, when combined with the 43 Cuban healthcare workers who remained on the island.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness said the professionals have been strategically assigned across the country’s health regions and key institutions, based on staffing needs. The largest contingent, 69 professionals, has been deployed to the South East Regional Health Authority, followed by 28 to the Western Regional Health Authority and 26 to the Southern Regional Health Authority.

Another 25 professionals have been assigned to the University Hospital of the West Indies, while the remaining nine have been placed within the North East Regional Health Authority and the ministry.

The return marks a significant turnaround after Cuba announced in March that it was withdrawing its medical brigade from Jamaica. Havana claimed the move followed Jamaica’s decision to end the decades-old programme under pressure from the United States, a charge that became the centre of regional debate over the future of Cuban healthcare partnerships in the Caribbean.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton welcomed the reinforcement of the public health system, stressing the importance of maintaining adequate staffing levels across hospitals and health centres.

“Our healthcare workers are the backbone of our health system, and ensuring that we have the right complement of skilled professionals in our facilities is critical to providing quality patient care,” Tufton said.