Cuban doctors bleak future

Cuban doctors' bleak future
By Sibusiso Ngalwa

Cuban doctors working in South Africa are faced with the prospect of
being sent back home.

This comes after the announcement this week by Health Minister Manto
Tshabalala-Msimang that foreign doctors would not be allowed to work in
South Africa for more than three years. Doctors from other African
countries would also no longer be recruited to work here.

The ban on African doctors was "morally correct", as the department
could not, on one hand, complain about a brain drain and, on the other,
poach from its neighbours, said the health department.

Tshabalala-Msimang released the Draft Strategic Framework for Human
Resources for Health report, a policy document aimed at dealing with the
shortage of health professionals.

'Morally correct'
Her announcement has unsettled Doctors for Democracy, a pressure group
fighting for the rights of Cuban doctors working in South Africa.

There are currently 146 Cuban doctors working here, 74 of whom have been
declared persona non grata by their country. The doctors came to South
Africa as a result of a treaty signed in 1995 by former South African
president Nelson Mandela and Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Rosemary Rodriguez, secretary of the KwaZulu-Natal branch of Doctors for
Democracy, said the doctors would be in "dire straits" if they were sent
home.

Of the 74 doctors who opted out of their contracts, only 20 had
permanent residence, and the others were still applying, she said.

Tendai Dhliwayo, spokesperson for the Health Professionals Council of
SA, said the doctors married to South Africans were legitimate citizens
and would not be affected by the new policy.

The others would not be registered by the council once their licences
came up for renewal.

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