Cuba says Jamaica 'yielded' to US pressure; to withdraw all medical workers

Cuba says it will withdraw its 277 medical professionals currently serving in Jamaica, a blow to the island which sought to cushion the fallout from ending a 50-year cooperation programme that helped fill key gaps in the health system.

Cuba also claims that Jamaica bowed to pressure from the United States to terminate the programme.

Jamaica had offered to engage the workers on individual contracts until their tenures ended. The health workers had between four months to two years left on their contracts, The Gleaner understands.

“With this action, the Government of Jamaica yields to the pressures of the Government of the United States, which is not concerned about the health needs of the Caribbean brothers,” said Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a social media post from the embassy in Jamaica on Friday.

It added: “In response to the step taken by the Government of Jamaica, the Government of Cuba has made the sovereign decision to proceed with the return of the Cuban Medical Brigade.”

The programme, which began in 1976, has long been a key source of doctors, nurses, and specialists in Jamaica’s public healthcare system, particularly in underserved areas and specialised services such as eye care.

The ministry said the Jamaican Government informed its embassy on March 4 of the “unilateral decision of its government to terminate the health cooperation agreement that has linked both nations for decades.”

Cuba’s response came a day after Jamaica’s Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Kamina Johnson Smith told Parliament that the Government’s decision to discontinue the programme was not influenced by the United States.

Responding to questions from Opposition lawmaker Dr Alfred Dawes during a meeting of Parliament’s Standing Finance Committee on Thursday, Johnson Smith said the arrangement ended after Jamaica and Cuba failed to reach agreement on the terms of a new cooperation framework.

“No,” Johnson Smith said when asked whether Washington had played a role in the decision.

She explained that the previous agreement had expired in February 2023 and that negotiations had been under way to establish a new arrangement.

However, the minister said the two countries were unable to resolve key issues, particularly concerning how the Cuban medical professionals would be paid.

“It’s regrettable that we were unable to reach agreement on the most fundamental point – the manner of payment,” Johnson Smith told lawmakers.

In its statement, Havana said it “deeply regrets” the decision, arguing that it disregards “a history of fruitful and sustained collaboration” that has provided significant medical support to Jamaica’s public health system for decades.

Cuba said its soon-departing health professionals “will leave behind an indelible mark and return to Cuba with the satisfaction of a duty fulfilled and the permanent willingness to assist wherever their spirit of solidarity is required.”

According to Cuban authorities, more than 4,700 Cuban medical collaborators have worked in Jamaica over the past 30 years alone. At the time the agreement ended, the Cuban Medical Brigade in Jamaica comprised 277 professionals, including doctors and other healthcare workers deployed across the public health system.

Cuba said the programme had produced “historic results”, citing figures that include more than 8.17 million patients treated, 74,302 surgical procedures performed, and 7,170 births attended.

The ministry also said more than 90,000 lives were saved through the work of Cuban medical personnel in Jamaica.

Cuba pointed to the Operation Miracle programme, which has been operating in Jamaica since 2010, saying it has restored or improved the eyesight of nearly 25,000 Jamaicans through specialised eye surgeries and treatments.

The statement also highlighted the brigade’s role in disease-control initiatives and emergency response efforts, including during the COVID-19 pandemic and the recovery period after Hurricane Melissa.

“The most recent example of this dedication was seen after the passage of Hurricane Melissa, which severely affected the island,” the ministry said. “In those difficult circumstances, the Cuban Medical Brigade remained firmly at their posts, many of its members working for more than 72 consecutive hours and actively joining the tasks of recovering hospitals and communities.”

Cuba said it remains committed to maintaining ties with Jamaica despite the end of the programme.

“Faithful to the historic relations of brotherhood and solidarity that unite us with Jamaica, Cuba reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the Jamaican people, who will always be able to count on the selfless cooperation of Cuba,” the ministry said.

Johnson Smith acknowledged that the United States has expressed concerns internationally about Cuba’s overseas medical missions, which Washington has accused of involving forced labour and human trafficking.

Caribbean governments, including Jamaica, have rejected those allegations.

Johnson Smith said Jamaica had sought to ensure that any renewed agreement complied with Jamaican law and international labour standards. “Where the programme came into conflict with those things, unfortunately, we were unable to reach agreement on correcting them and that is why the programme has ended,” she said.

Health Minister Christopher Tufton told the same parliamentary committee that the Government has already begun preparing for potential gaps in the public health system resulting from the departure of Cuban medical personnel.

He said the Government is pursuing a “multipronged approach” to address human-resource shortages in the sector, including training more specialists, recruiting healthcare workers from overseas, and seeking to attract members of the Jamaican diaspora.

Dawes, who is also opposition spokesman on health, warned that the end of the arrangement could affect access to care in some sectors, especially the eye-care programme that provides cataract surgeries and other services to patients who cannot afford private treatment.

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