THE Ministry of Health, last Friday, signed a new healthcare co-operation agreement with its counterparts in Cuba, which is set to foster better relations in the health sector.
Guyana has had relations with Cuba in the health sector for quite some time, as specialists in the health field would regularly come to Guyana.
Director General at the Ministry of Health, Dr Vishwa Mahadeo, in an invited comment to the Guyana, said that the last time the agreement with Cuba was looked at was over 10 years ago.
He added that as a result of that, from 2012 to earlier this year, doctors, nurses and other specialists who would work in Guyana through the existing arrangement, had no adjustment in salaries.
“What we did was to sign an MoU basically bringing their salary up to what the Guyanese are getting, and reconfirming all the other agreements that we had, for them providing specialists and providing what we need,” Dr Mahadeo said.
This increase in salary could result in more Cuban health care providers coming to Guyana to offer their services.
Over the last year, according to Dr Mahadeo, based on Guyana’s needs, the country brought in more nurses in specialist areas.
He added that this year, officials have requested an additional 100 nurses to come in along with the usual specialists.
With the rapid expansion and upgrades taking place in Guyana’s healthcare sector, he said that the signing of this agreement comes at a good time, as there is a need for increased human resource capacity.
Earlier this month, President, Dr Irfaan Ali announced that the government was in talks to source nurses from Cuba to fill the existing shortage here.
At that time, he indicated that one of the major issues in Guyana and the Caribbean at large is the migration of nurses to other countries.
Meanwhile, at the end of 2022, the President, in keeping with the government’s promise to adjust the lower salary scales, announced significant increases in salaries for several categories of healthcare workers.
The increase that was announced catered for some $1.5 billion more in annualised disposable income for over 5,000 workers in the health sector.
