MÉRIDA, Mexico.- Almost 15,000 Cuban doctors left the Island’s health system in 2023, according to official figures published recently by the National Office of Statistics and Information (ONEI).
According to the state entity, in 2023 they worked in the Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) 80,763 doctors, about 13,303 fewer than those registered in Cuba in 2022, when there were 94,066.
In total, MINSAP’s medical staff in 2023 was 248,512 in 2023, when in 2022 it was 281,098, for some 32,586 workers. lessa number of desertions higher than that of 2022, when 31,308 people left the system.
Stomatologists, nurses, senior, middle and basic technicians and technologists and “other health graduates” left MINSAP in 2023.
In 2023 there were 3,125 fewer estheticians than the previous year and 6,285 fewer “nursing staff.”
On the other hand, a decrease was recorded in the workforce of technologists and “other health graduates”, for a total of 6,191 fewer specialists.
The Cuban health system is going through a critical moment marked by the low number of doctors and a general shortage of supplies and medicines. Currently, according to ONEI statistics, there are about 127 inhabitants per doctor on the Island, when in 2022 there were 113.
The average number of real medical care beds per service unit has also decreased in 2023, when 38,483 were counted, about 3,369 less than those available in 2022.
Despite the shortage of doctors and constant complaints from the population about the health crisis, the Cuban regime continues to export health professionals to other countries.
On the morning of Monday, November 25, a group of 199 Cuban doctorsspecialized in 29 disciplines medicalarrived at the Felipe Ángeles International Airport (AIFA) in Mexico to join medical care programs in remote communities in 24 states of the country, according to the Cuban Embassy in Mexico.
The Cuban doctors will work alongside Mexican colleagues as part of an agreement between the governments of Mexico and Cuba. This agreement places Caribbean specialists in the units of the IMSS Bienestar program, which operates in areas with difficult access and a shortage of health personnel. “The solidarity and experience of our doctors willing to save lives. “Cuba saves lives,” highlighted the Cuban diplomatic representation in its statement.
The export of medical services It is one of Cuba’s main sources of income, even surpassing tourism. This practice is sustained at the expense of the labor and human rights of health professionals, who are not free to negotiate their conditions or the destination of their income.
