Cost of seconded Cuban doctors will be R239m

The Cuban doctors seconded to SA to help in the fight against Covid-19 will cost the state just over R239m, health minister Zweli Mkhize has revealed.

Provinces will pay millions more for accommodating the brigade until April 2021.

Mkhize told DA MP Siviwe Gwarube, in a written reply to parliamentary questions, that Cuba had availed 187 medical specialists to help SA in the response to the pandemic.

He said the 187 worked in areas in which the country was struggling to produce enough experts. They are epidemiologists, family physicians and health technologists, and some are qualified in biostatistics.

“All of them,” was how Mkhize responded to a question on the number of the Cuban medical personnel who are proficient in English.

Mkhize’s response shows that R239,181,933 had been budgeted for salaries.

“The estimated budget cost is informed by actual appointment levels of the Cuban health brigade as determined by their registration category, which took into consideration years of experience,” he said.

A further R734,100 will be paid for the registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa but this money will be later recouped from the doctors, Mkhize said.

It is a norm that the registration cost is paid by an individual health professional to the council.

“However, as per the government-to-government agreement, the South Africans pay the fee to the HPCSA and, thereafter, deduct the full amount of registration from the individual health professionals’ first salary,” he said.

“This means there is no actual cost to be incurred by the South African government. However it is a convenient process arranged to ensure that all of the professionals are registered.

On accommodation, Mkhize said most provinces had entered into agreements with providers for a 12-month period. Other provinces were only accommodating the brigade for

May and June before moving them to hotspots districts and communities.

“Therefore, the accommodation in these areas are still not confirmed, as negotiations are still under way.”

He said provinces first considered doctors’ quarters where the brigade will be stationed.

Those who have been deployed in the Eastern Cape are residing in B&Bs and should be accommodated for the full period of their contract, he said. The province has budgeted R384,000 for this.