Alexey Lopez, 59, a Cuban cardiologist, is sleeping a little easier now that his salary has been increased as part of the government’s efforts to keep the island’s famed health-care system from bleeding professionals in the midst of the worst economic crisis in decades.
However, Lopez is concerned that the wage increase would not be sufficient to entice his colleagues, who are among the approximately 40,000 Cuban medical workers that will leave in 2022 and 2023, according to government data.
He told the media that “we were losing sleep” trying to make ends meet until incentive bonuses were implemented last month for night and weekend schedules, seniority, and work in specialized or dangerous services.
The communist island has been dealing with sky-high inflation and shortages since the outbreak, and a tightening of US sanctions in 2021, along with structural problems, has thrown the economy into a spiral.
The terrible circumstances have prompted about 5% of the population to flee, largely to the United States, in the largest wave of emigration since Fidel Castro’s revolution.
Cuba’s renowned medical system has also suffered, with some health care workers fleeing the nation and others seeking higher-paying jobs abroad, such as in the tourism business.
To try to prevent the migration, about 400,000 doctors, nurses, and technicians have received incentive bonuses.
‘Not yet enough’
Lopez, a cardiologist at Havana’s Calixto Garcia Hospital, saw his income more than double from 6,500 to 17,000 Cuban pesos with the incentives, bringing his monthly earnings to $141 according to the official rate but only $56 at the street rates that determine prices.
“I know people who have quit and these measures are not yet enough to encourage them to come back,” he was quoted as saying by AFP.
Amanda, a physiotherapist who opted not to reveal her surname, stated that despite having her income increased by a third, she will “have to find other ways to generate money” to survive.
Deputy health minister Luis Fernando Navarro told AFP that the measure sought to “improve the living conditions of staff,” but admitted that “this increase does not respond to the current cost of living in Cuba.”
Navarro stated that the doctor scarcity was especially noticeable in specialist sectors.
He stated that, while the country has general practitioners in all of its health centers, “this is not the case for specialised care” in hospitals or “hyper-specialized care” for complex disorders.
‘White coat diplomacy’
The country’s universal health care system has 89 doctors for every 10,000 people, compared to 33 in France and 35 in the United States, according to the World Health Organization.
The export of trained health care personnel in so-called “white coat diplomacy” has been a key source of foreign cash, and in certain years, such as 2018, it was the country’s top earner, bringing in approximately $6 billion.
At home, Cuban doctors frequently have to purchase their own stethoscopes and equipment.
With antiquated cardiac monitors beeping in the background, Dr. Lopez stated that the economic crisis was manifesting itself “in shortages of doctors, equipment, and medicine.”