KINGSTON, Jamaica – Health and Wellness Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton says the Jamaica-Cuba Eye Care Programme will continue, despite the conclusion of the technical cooperation agreement between the governments of the two countries.
An elderly woman getting attention under the Jamaica-Cuba eye care programme (JIS Photo)“We know many Jamaicans have benefited from this, and it has been driven primarily by this agreement involving the Cuban workers. The intention is not to discontinue the programme,” Tufton said during a hybrid press briefing on Monday.
“The intention is to work with the existing team up to the point when they may discontinue or continue, depending on where the discussions lead and beyond that, to find alternative ways to continue the work, because it’s a very critical programme,” he added.
Tufton said that the ministry understands and fully appreciates the benefits of the programme, which operates at the St Joseph’s Hospital and is supported by 18 Cuban healthcare workers.
Tufton advised that the Cuban team will continue procedures until March 20, with services limited to surgery and post-operative care.
“What this means is that surgical procedures for patients who are already scheduled and follow-up care for patients who have already undergone eye surgery and retina-related post-operative treatment and monitoring… those procedures will take place,” Tufton said.
He said that approximately 140 people are scheduled to undergo surgery and urged patients who have benefited from surgeries to attend their scheduled follow-up appointments to ensure proper recovery and continued care.
“In the meantime, we are working on alternative arrangements to ensure the continuity of the screening programme through a combination of our internal capacity, as well as through some outsourcing arrangements, and we’ve got the Cabinet’s agreement on that… in the sense that it has a budgetary implication, meaning engaging the private sector,” he added.
Earlier, the Jamaica government said it has always valued the contributions made by the Cuban health brigade to the island even as it acknowledged that the United States “has publicly raised concerns about the operation of the medical programme globally”.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade was responding to a statement from Cuba that it was withdrawing all its medical professionals from Jamaica less than 48 hours after Kingston said it was discontinuing the current arrangement with Havana after 50 years.
“Cuba regrets the decision of the government of Jamaica to cease medical cooperation, yielding to pressure from the U.S,” according to a statement issued by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It said that on March 4, the Foreign Ministry of Jamaica communicated to its embassy in Kingston “the unilateral decision of its government to terminate the health cooperation agreement that has linked both nations for decades.
