How are the agreements to contract Cuban doctors brokered?
Cuban health professionals staff the health systems of other countries by virtue of government-to-government agreements. The agreements are based on requests from host countries. These are finalized after a joint evaluation of what support a country’s health infrastructure needs (physicians, nurses, technicians, medical educators, etc) and the Cuban capacity to provide it. In the case of disaster relief, these accords are usually fast-tracked according to circumstances on the ground. Except for disaster situations, the bilateral accords usually cover a period of at least two years, providing a certain number of Cuban health professionals in the specialties and locations agreed upon. The most common framework for assistance, now covering 70 countries, is through the Comprehensive Health Program (CHP). The CHP grew out of the medical relief teams Cuba dispatched to Central America and the Caribbean following Hurricane Mitch in 1998. The post-disaster scenario there made clear that more w
