Health Cabinet Secretary Susan Nakhumicha has disclosed that Kenya will not be renewing the agreement with Cuban doctors,
Speaking at the Windsor Golf Hotel in Nairobi ,Nakhumicha noted that various measures have been put in place to ensure the challenges affecting the health workforce in the country are addressed.
“We have decided not to renew the agreement with the Cuban doctors. Our very own healthcare professionals are committed to the cause,” Nakumicha noted.
According to the Health CS, the decision was informed by the fact that the local medics will be highly motivated to perform their tasks.
“As a ministry, I am confident that we will have a highly motivated workforce,” the CS said in a statement.
She said the government will put in place robust strategies geared towards strengthening pillars of the local health system, including health products and technologies, health information and healthcare financing.
Kenya signed a health agreement with Cuba in 2017 that actualized an exchange programme where Cuban doctors would come into the country to help fill the gap in county hospitals while Kenyan doctors were sent to Cuba for specialized training.
There were 53 family physicians and 47 specialists among the first group of Cuban medical professionals to enter the country from Havana in 2018.
Earlier this year, the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) asked the government to cease the country’s medics exchange program with Cuba.