Issued by: SA Communication Service
26 FEBRUARY 1996
DR ZUMA TO MEET CUBAN DOCTORS AT JOHANNESBURG INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON TUESDAY, 27 FEBRUARY 1996
The National Minister of Health, Dr N C Dlamini Zuma, and senior officials of the Department of Health are to meet the Cuban Deputy Minister of Health and 101 Cuban doctors when they arrive 09:30 at Johannesburg International Airport on 27 February 1996.
On 20 November 1995 Dr Zuma visited Cuba to arrange the recruitment of Cuban doctors to fill vacant posts in underserved areas. A follow up visit was made on 28 January 1996 to finalise their recruitment after an inter-governmental agreement had been signed between the two countries.
Representatives of the Interim National Medical and Dental Council of South Africa (NMDCSA) accompanied the Minister and conducted oral, practical and clinical evaluation of Cuban doctors who had applied to work in South Africa. The Management Committee of NMDCSA granted limited registration to 114 Cuban doctors and only 101 are due to arrive tomorrow.
The Cuban doctors will be deployed in all the nine provinces, after having completed a two-week orientation programme which will entail familiarising them with the health conditions in South Africa, their areas of deployment, the culture of the people and completing the necessary paper work.
Following hereunder are the number of doctors for each province.
The Cuban Deputy Minister of Public Health, Dr Jorge Antelo and two Cuban professors, Dr Victor Figueroa and Dr Alegandro Garcia, will be in South Africa for two weeks during which time they will visit health institutions where Cuban doctors will be deployed, pharmaceutical institutions and the University of Pretoria.
CONTACT - VINCENT HLONGWANE CELL 082 557 0978