Italy: faced with the lack of caregivers, Calabria recruits Cuban doctors

Already in March 2020, Italy called on Cuban doctors to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.

REUTERS - DANIELE MASCOLO

Text by: Anne Le Nir Follow

2 mins

A first group of 51 Cuban doctors, out of the 497 expected over the next three years, has arrived in Calabria, in southern Italy, where the health system is particularly weak.

In 2020, at the heart of the coronavirus pandemic, Rome had already called on Cuban practitioners for a period of two months.

But this new initiative is unprecedented in addressing chronic issues. 

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From our correspondent in Rome,

Calabria, a region with two million inhabitants, is the largest medical desert in Italy.

There is a shortage of 2,500 doctors, in particular specialists, to treat the population which is very aging: 23% of the inhabitants are over 65 years old.

However, competitions do not attract candidates, hospitals are losing their staff because of salaries that are less attractive than those offered by private establishments.

In addition, public structures lack equipment.

Cuban doctors, world renowned for their skills, should therefore facilitate the restructuring of the Calabrian health system. 

A struggling health service

It all started with the initiative of the governor of Calabria, Roberto Occhiuto, who also has the function of special commissioner, because the Calabrian health system has been placed under supervision for 13 years, due to its debt, currently close to one billion dollars. euros.

After obtaining approval from Rome, Roberto Occhiuto signed a cooperation agreement with the company “Servicios Médicos Cubanos”, authorized by the communist regime to market Cuban health services abroad.

But the agreement, signed in August 2022, was later modified to calm the controversy raised by Italian unions and MEPs.

Because the Cuban authorities appropriate 70% of the salaries of caregivers on mission abroad to finance studies and health, free on the island.

There, the government of Miguel Diaz Canel has undertaken, exceptionally, not to puncture the income of doctors in Calabria.

They will receive 3,500 euros per month plus an allowance of 1,200 euros for living expenses.

The duration of the contract for the 497 practitioners who will be at the bedside of Calabria is approximately 12 months.

A health system hailed for its quality

The first group of 38 men and 13 women, who already have experience abroad, particularly in Africa, is made up of emergency physicians, surgeons, cardiologists, hematologists and pediatricians.

As soon as they arrived, at the end of December, they took Italian lessons.

And now they will be spread across five hospitals that, without them, would be condemned to closure.

► To read also: Coronavirus: first return of Cuban doctors called in as reinforcements in Italy

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