Cuba sends 150 doctors

The Gambia has received 150 Cuban doctors to staff its greatly expanded health service, the state-owned newspaper, ‘The Gambia Daily’ has reported. The group, which arrived on 16 June, is the largest contingent of foreign doctors from any one country ever to serve the African nation. Their arrival followed a visit to Cuba in May by Gambian President Yahya Jammeh. Under an agreement reached between the two countries, the doctors will serve three-year terms, after a two-week orientation on the country’s health system and national treatment manual, the newspaper said. Quoting the permanent secretary in the Gambian Department of State for Health, Abdoulie Njie, the paper said 18 out of 20 Cuban doctors who arrived there three years ago would return to Cuba soon, at the end of their tour. Two have had their terms prolonged because of their expertise in specialised areas. Equipment and medicines for the newly built Farafenni General Hospital, 106 km east of Banjul, where some of the Cubans will work, is due for delivery at the end of June.