HAVANA: Cuba announced sweeping wage increases for its 440,000 health care workers yesterday, including those sent abroad, citing the billions of dollars they earn for the country and the need to improve local services.
Monthly salaries for doctors and nurses will be increased by 100 percent to nearly 200 percent, including for many of the 50,000 health care providers working overseas, according to a government statement carried by state-run media.
The measure, which takes effect in May, will “contribute to the stability and quality of medical services for the population as well as completion of international commitments”, the statement said.
The World Bank reported that in 2010 Cuba had 6.7 physicians per 1,000 inhabitants, the highest in the world.
Cuba has been sending more and more doctors abroad, including 11,400 recently exported to Brazil, leaving local residents complaining the policy is affecting the Communist-run country’s free health care.
Health care providers sent abroad earn many times the average $30 per month of their colleagues remaining at home, who have been expected to pick up the slack without increased compensation.
There is no private health care in Cuba, however, some doctors and nurses have taken to providing services on the side and many say they are forced to accept presents or work other jobs to survive.
Some doctors sent abroad do not return home, though the government has never reported how many. The export of health care services is by far Cuba’s most important hard currency earner.
Reuters
