Cuban medical missions under threat

Jamaicans who rely on Cuban doctors for life-changing eye surgeries and other treatments are facing an imminent crisis, as the United States' newly imposed visa restrictions threaten to cut off their access to critical healthcare.

A new US policy that targets "forced labour linked to the Cuban labour export programme" may force government officials to decide between keeping their US visas or abandon Cuba's revered overseas medical missions.

For many, this could mean a devastating loss of the life-saving care they have come to depend on. Granville Benjamin, a postal worker who has long battled eye issues, knows all too well how vital the Cuban doctors are to Jamaica's healthcare system.

"Jamaicans rely on the Cuban doctors because them do it for free, as well as the resources they bring here. And not only that, some of the medical students here go to Cuba for study. So it is really worrying," he said.

"You can imagine those who are looking forward to a call for the surgery or actually getting the treatment and then everything just get cancelled."

The USA has labelled Cuba's dispatch of doctors overseas as forced labour.

"Cuba's labour export programmes, which include the medical missions, enrich the Cuban regime, and in the case of Cuba's overseas medical missions, deprive ordinary Cubans of the medical care they desperately need in their home country," US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, said last week.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, says the Jamaican Government is concerned about the United States' recent visa restriction policy.

"The Jamaican government is also examining the operation of our system. We have over 400 participants from the Cuban medical programme at different levels -doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers, and technicians - so their presence here is of importance to our healthcare system," she said.

Once critical programme on which Jamaica and Cuba collaborate is Operation Miracle, an eye care initiative started in 2005. It has provided free eye care services, including surgeries, to more than 100,000 Jamaicans since its inception.

Similarly, Michelle Golding-Hylton, an educator at the Salvation Army School for the Blind and Visually Impaired, said Cuban doctors have been instrumental in restoring vision for many Jamaicans over the years.

"It has been a while since I have seen any special arrangements, but a couple of years ago, some of our students actually went to Cuba for their operations, and in fact, one or two of them got back some sight," she recalled.

She stressed that breaking this relationship would have far-reaching consequences beyond eye care.

"Most of the clinics that deal with severe eye conditions are mostly operated by Cuban doctors," she said.

Benjamin remains hopeful that dialogue between CARICOM and the United States will lead to a resolution that protects the nation's healthcare needs.

"We need to find a solution that's beneficial to the country. Too many lives depend on it," he said.