Tobago House of Assembly Deputy Chief Secretary with responsibility for Health, Dr. Faith Brebnor, says neither the THA nor the TRHA has received any national policy directive calling for a change in the employment of Cuban medical professionals in Tobago.
Her comments come amid reports that the United States is calling on Caribbean nations to end cooperation with Cuban medical brigades, labelling the programmes as “forced labour” and “human trafficking.”
Dr. Brebnor stated, “The Tobago House of Assembly and the Tobago Regional Health Authority have 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, and therefore we will continue functioning as we’ve been functioning over the last couple of years unless a national policy is highlighted and presented to the Tobago House of Assembly or the Tobago Regional Health Authority.”
Dr. Brebnor emphasised that the TRHA recruits medical professionals from across the world.
“They simply need to be able to legally work in Trinidad and Tobago once they are recruited, and we will continue doing that, and that, of course, includes medical professionals from Cuba. As long as they are legally allowed to be employed in Trinidad and Tobago, the Tobago Regional Health Authority will continue recruiting as we go along.”