This week 217 Cuban doctors from various disciplines arrived in South Africa to help with the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. The deployment of the Cuban specialists came after a request by President Cyril Ramaphosa to the President of Cuba Miguel Díaz-Canel. Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize said South Africa stands to benefit from the arrival of the Cuban medical brigade.

Minister Zweli Mkhize said the Cuban doctors have a particular strength in the case of community medicine, which is helpful in approaching the outbreak of COVID-19. He said the doctors have been allocated to various provinces on the basis of the weight of the outbreak, where they will work alongside South African medical professionals. Mkhize stressed that the Cuban doctors are not here to fill vacancies but are in the country to help contain the outbreak.

The South African Medical Association (SAMA) has raised concerns about the arrival of the 217 health specialists from Cuba. “While we are not averse to the Cuban brigade assisting us, we feel strongly that the principle of not engaging with SAMA is flawed and wrong,” said SAMA chairperson Angelique Coetzee. She said the money spent on bringing the Cuban specialists to South Africa would have been better spent on first employing local doctors.

She added that many local health professionals have the necessary skills and experience to drive this process, especially in rural areas. “There are many unemployed doctors in South Africa and many community service medical officers have still not been placed,” Coetzee said.

She highlighted that many private practitioners have also indicated their willingness to assist with the COVID-19 fight. “South Africa has many public and private health specialists, family physicians, and epidemiologists who would have heeded the president’s call for assistance,” she said.

“Retired doctors can be brought back into the service delivery system – even for a short time.” “Only when we have exhausted all our internal human resources should a consultative process been initiated to bring the Cuban specialists to South Africa,” said Angelique Coetzee.