The president of Calabria, Roberto Occhiutoassured that the Cuban doctorswho arrived in the Italian region through an agreement with the country’s authorities due to the lack of professionals, will stay despite the fact that the president of the United States would supposedly not agree with these initiatives.
“The US administration, even during the presidency of Joe Biden, has never shown special enthusiasm for our initiative to bring Cuban doctors to Calabria. But in these years, with the ambassadors and representatives of the United States Government in Italy, we have always maintained a serene, constant dialogue based on collaboration,” Occhiuto explained to the Italian agency. ANSA.
Given Trump’s alleged disagreement, the president of Calabria – the poorest region of Italy – explained that “contacts with the US State Department have been further intensified.” and confirmed that next week he will meet with Mike Hammer, responsible for US affairs in Cuba, who is in Italy.
“One thing is certain. The Cuban doctors who currently serve in Calabria will also remain there in the coming years. They have been, are and will continue to be essential to guarantee the functioning of emergencies and keep all hospitals in our region open,” he added.
Jamaica maintains medical cooperation with Cuba, but negotiates a new agreement with Havana
And he added: “we had an agreement to reach a total of one thousand Cuban doctors. If the United States Government intends to help us by making new foreign doctors available to Calabria, until we reach the thousand we need, obviously we have no objection: on the contrary, we are willing to welcome with open arms anyone who wants to contribute to the strengthening of our regional health system.”
In 2022, Occhiuto signed an agreement with the Cuban Medical Services company (SMC) for nearly a thousand professionals to arrive in the region due to the lack of healthcare workers.
This summer another 48 doctors arrived to join the 352 colleagues already working in Calabria.
