[Marxism] IPS: Country Welcomes Cuban Doctors

[Walter Lippmann]

(This is for all of those radicals who complain 
about the South African government and all of 
its supposed failures in providing services.

(Instead of complaining, they should be grateful
to the South African government for efforts like
this to provide much needed medical care where
other South Africans aren't willing to give it.)
==================================================

Country Welcomes Cuban Doctors
Inter Press Service (Johannesburg)

http://allafrica.com/stories/200804290006.html 

NEWS
28 April 2008
Posted to the web 29 April 2008

By Stephanie Nieuwoudt
Cape Town

For more than a decade, Cuban doctors have filled part of a gap left
by South African doctors who in large numbers leave the country
looking for better salaries and employment opportunities.

According to Fidel Radebe, director of communications for South
Africa's department of health, there are currently 134 Cuban doctors
in the country working under a government-to-government agreement
between Cuba and South Africa.

The first Cuban doctors who came to the country under this agreement
arrived in 1996 -- two years after the African National Congress
(ANC) came to power.

Socialist Cuba was a firm supporter of the anti-apartheid struggle in
South Africa, and the ANC and other leftwing movements in South
Africa always had a natural affinity for Cuba's stated struggle
against "neo imperialism."

Fast forward to 2008 -- Radebe could not confirm rumours that
negotiations were underway to bring a new batch of doctors to the
country. "The department may in future consider the further
recruitment of Cuban doctors as provided for in the
government-to-government agreement, but details have not yet been
finalised," he said.

IPS asked Radebe about how Cuban doctors have been received in South
Africa. Some of their patients and colleagues have been harsh in
their criticism. Patients have complained that some of the doctors
are not properly trained and that they do not converse fluently in
any of South Africa's 11 official languages, including English.

This kind of response, however, stands in sharp contrast to a number
of papers and articles written by academics and journalists that
praise the Cuban government for its accessible medical system and the
high standards of training in that country. According to some figures
there is one doctor for every 170 Cubans -- something South Africa
has no hope of achieving in the near future with only 74 doctors per
100,000 citizens.

Whatever the criticism, it cannot be denied -- some commentators say
-- that Cuban doctors have brought invaluable resources to far-flung
areas of the country where many South African doctors refuse to work
due to insecurity, remoteness of the area, and a lack of proper
salaries.

"These doctors provide an important service in places where only one
doctor is often on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week," says Mike
Waters, spokesperson for the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA).

Harald Pakendorf, a former newspaper editor and currently an
independent political analyst, concurs that Cuban doctors play an
important role in primary health care in South Africa. He also adds
that the government should retain doctors, all of whom were trained
at great cost to South African taxpayers.

"The government should appoint competent hospital administrators who
can see to things like funding and the purchasing of equipment.
Doctors should care for their patients. They should not have to worry
about the availability of things like needles, sutures, swabs and
medicines," Pakendorf said.

Regarding the criticism that Cuban doctors often lack the necessary
skills, Radebe says that all doctors have to register with the Health
Professions Council of South Africa and therefore have to meet
certain professional standards.

According to Waters, the vacancy rates for medical specialists range
from 51 percent in the central province of the Free State to a
massive 86 percent in the northern Limpopo Province, near Zimbabwe.
And it is in these empty spaces that the Cuban doctors are eagerly
welcomed.

The situation in the Eastern Cape, South Africa's poorest province,
is also desperate. Not only is there a lack of general practitioners,
but there is also a demand for teaching staff at the medical school
of the Walter Sisulu University in Mthatha. A total of 32 Cuban
specialists are currently attached to the medical school.

Karuna Krihanlal-Gopal, the acting director of marketing,
communications and development at the university, says that the Cuban
doctor-trainers "certainly bring a wealth of experience [to South
Africa], having worked in similarly challenging circumstances prior
to arriving in the country. They are also very dedicated teachers."

In 2007 Cuban doctors with 10 years experience or more who work in
South African government hospitals and institutions were paid about
3,800 to 4,400 dollars per month, according to figures released by
the DA. Relatively speaking, this might seem like a lot, compared to
salaries in Cuba, but South African doctors emigrating to work in
Europe, North America or the Antipodes could often treble their
salaries by practicing overseas.

According to Radebe, several doctors have in the past opted to obtain
permanent residency and citizenship in South Africa.

According to the government-to-government agreement, South Africa has
also sent hundreds of medical students to Cuba to be trained there.