Trade union Solidarity said on Wednesday that it noted government’s import of Cuban medical practitioners, engineers and staff to manage Covid-19, and that the welfare of South Africa's own medical sector workers should be prioritised. 

The union said this must be seen in light of the fact that a large number of medically qualified South Africans are currently prevented from practising medicine.

“Costs regarding the deployment of the Cubans, which include additional flights, quarantine, meals and interpreting services, are incurred. This money could also have been used very productively to assist the large number of South African medical staff who are now struggling because of the pandemic,” said Henru Krüger, head of the Solidarity Professional Guild for Health Practitioners.

He said Solidarity believed there was a misconception regarding the prosperity of the medical world during the time of the pandemic. 

Doctors and medical staff were severely hampered by government’s current lockdown measures, he said, which entailed that almost no medical services could be provided in the private sector. Only emergency and chronic health services are excluded from the measures.

More than 200 Cuban health workers arrived in the country over the weekend to support local healthcare workers in their efforts to contain Covid-19.

The Cuban medical team has been quarantined at a Pretoria hotel, in line with standard protocol set for those travelling into the country during the health crisis.

Highlighting the difficulties being experienced by South African medical workers, Solidarity said that according to claim patterns obtained from Healthbridge, the decrease in consultations experienced by general practitioners was as much as 43%.

Specialists had a decrease of up to 33%, dentists up to 61%, and optometrists as much as 91%. Nurses salaries had been cut by 30%. Physiotherapists who had seen up to 20 patients per day were now only seeing two. 

Dental technicians showed no income, and radiologists have had to retrench employees. Many breadwinners had no income.

“The government shamelessly boasts about the luxury of having highly qualified and highly paid assistance from overseas while our own local practitioners and personnel are experiencing hardships,” Krüger argued. 

“With this action, local medical staff feel that the government is not demonstrating the same degree of sympathy for our local medical personnel, and that they are not considered to be important enough to receive assistance in their darkest hour,” he said.

Most healthcare practitioners in South Africa practice as sole proprietors, and therefore they do not qualify for relief funds in terms of the current regulations. "Money must, therefore, also be ploughed back into our own country," Krüger said.

“Charity begins at home, and the government should also offer assistance to the local medical industry.”