Why Cuban doctors would put Mexico’s public health system at risk

One of the problems that the Mexican government has always been unable to counter is the health system inefficiency. During the six-year tenure of Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO), the President of the Republic tried to calm the situation by hiring doctors trained in Cuba. However, for some experts, the measure could contribute to its aggravation.

According to Xavier Tello, surgeon and health policy analyst, the arrival of more brigades from the island will not be will contribute to the solution of health policies. On the contrary, they could worsen working conditions doctors trained on the territory, even if it will also apply to foreigners.

“It’s a terrible prognosis on where we want to take health policies. (doctors trained in Cuba) take away the possibility of having a decent work for Mexicans and They do not solve the fundamental problem, which is to raise the level of Mexican medicine,” the specialist told the agency. EFE.

During Miguel-Díaz Canel’s last visit to Mexico, the National President held a meeting with him. In a public act held in the state of Campeche, López Obrador awarded him the highest honor given to foreigners, that is, the Order of the Aztec Eagle. However, he also made a request.

“It is very likely that we need more doctors from Cuba and I hope they will support us with more doctors and specialists, we have committed that by July this year we must have all the staff in the health centers and hospitals and we can there achieve if we continue to count on their support,” he said. on February 11, 2023.

The initiative to train doctors in Cuba in Mexico was born out of the pandemic. However, the program has been extended in time to manage to hire specialists in various fields understaffed, so that in 2023 about 600 have arrived.

With the arrival of the brigades, resident doctors and students in Mexico made their displeasure known. Among their demands was the slogan of improve the conditions and salaries to practice the profession in some areas where insecurity levels are high in the country. However, far from improving the conditions of domestic and foreign doctors, the lack could be masked by the strategy provided in government policies.

“What (the Mexican government) needs to do is inject resources, Mexican doctors should have a higher salary and a better job offer. And what they want is to continue to pay little and to stigmatize them because they do not want to accept low-paid jobs,” continues Xavier Tello.

One of the responses of the Mexican government to combat the unemployment rate currently suffered by qualified doctors was published in 2022. It was a call to recruit specialized personnel and to occupy more 13,000 positions in all the countries.

According to the Ministry of Health, about 11,000 applicants were registered, although less than half showed up for the follow-up appointment to finalize the hiring process. In addition, according to published data, most jobs were in entities with high rates of marginalization and insecurity.

Among other things directly related to the health of the Mexican population, one of the most obvious consequences is the lack of specialized personnel on the national territory.

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI), in 2021 there were 2.4 doctors per thousand inhabitants. Although this figure is higher than the rate recorded in other latitudes of Latin America, it does not meet the recommendation of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to 3.5.