Bolivian hospital doctors call national strike over presence of Cuban doctors

Citation

(2006), "Bolivian hospital doctors call national strike over presence of Cuban doctors", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 19 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijhcqa.2006.06219fab.003

Bolivian hospital doctors call national strike over presence of Cuban doctors

BoliviaBolivian hospital doctors call national strike over presence of Cuban doctors

Keywords: Health services, Quality management

Doctors at public and private hospitals across Bolivia temporarily walked off the job to protest the presence of Cuban doctors who are here providing free medical care to Bolivia’s poor. Cuban President Fidel Castro, a close ally of Bolivian President Evo Morales, sent more than 700 Cuban doctors to the poor Andean nation in February.

There are 10,000 unemployed Bolivian doctors that the government should be using instead of the Cubans, according to the Bolivian Medical Board, which organized the 24-hour protests.

The Bolivian Medical Board says the government is paying the Cuban doctors’ food, housing and travel expenses and says Bolivian doctors should be contracted under the same terms. But the Health Ministry denied that claim, saying Bolivia is not paying the Cuban doctors for their work and doesn’t have the money to hire more local doctors. Alfredo Rada, the vice minister who coordinates with social movement, stated that this help will be maintained as long as the towns need it. Support has been received from 143 city governments.

The board is not opposed to medical help from abroad, said Jorge Morales, the group’s secretary, but the Cuban doctors, who may be staying for years, have not provided proof of their qualifications as required by law.

Sr Morales has stated that Bolivia had received help over the years from many countries and organizations, and all of them have complied with Bolivian laws, but for the first time a huge contingent of doctors has come and they have not fulfilled one requirement.

Since Bolivia’s leftist president took office in January, Cuba not only has sent doctors, but also has equipped 20 eye surgery centers to provide free operations and funded a massive literacy campaign.

People who have benefited from the free cataract surgeries offered by the Cubans announced they would march in support of the Cubans.

But the aid that has poured in from Castro, and even more so from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, also has brought criticism that President Morales is neglecting important neighbours such as Brazil and Argentina and being influenced too much by Chavez. Chavez has pledged more than US$240 million dollars in loans and aid and plans to sink up to US$1.5 billion in Bolivia’s recently nationalized natural gas industry.

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