The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) will continue engaging Cuban medical professionals, as no change in national policy has been communicated, according to Secretary of Health, Wellness and Social Protection Faith Brebnor.

Speaking on the issue in a video issued on March 27, Brebnor said both the THA and the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA) have not received any directive indicating a shift in policy regarding the employment of Cuban healthcare workers.

“Tobago House of Assembly and the Tobago Regional Health Authority has not gotten any word of a shift in policy as it relates to the use or the employment or the utilisation of the technical capacity of Cuban medical professionals,” she said. “Therefore we will continue functioning as we’ve been functioning over the last couple years unless a national policy is highlighted.”

Brebnor said the TRHA routinely recruits healthcare workers from across the world and will continue to do so, provided they meet legal requirements to work in Trinidad and Tobago.

“They simply need to be able to legally work in Trinidad and Tobago once they are recruited, and we will continue doing that,” she said, adding that this includes Cuban professionals.

Several countries in the region have begun to shift their stance on using Cuban medical professionals following pressure from US President Donald Trump and Secretary Of State Marco Rubio who labled the medical missions as a form of human trafficking.

The Trump administration has threatened visa restrictions and other sanctions against governments who continue to facilitate what they called the exploitation of cuban medical professionals.

Guyana and Jamaica have ended their decades long cooperation with Cuba. Other countries announced plans to reduce their reliance on Cuba turning towards Nigeria and Ghana to find medical professionals to meet local shortfalls. 

Already St Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and barbuda have recruited Ghanian nurses to work in their hospitals.