42 Cuban doctors stay in Jamaica after end of medical agreement

Jamaica formally ended its five-decade medical cooperation agreement with Cuba in early March 2026, following the expiration of the previous arrangement in February 2023 and months of failed renegotiations. 

The Jamaican Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that Kingston had been approaching Havana since July 2025, proposing a restructured deal that would allow doctors to receive salaries directly and retain their passports — conditions it described as necessary to comply with Jamaican labour law and international conventions. 

Cuba did not respond to the proposal, and the government announced the programme's discontinuation shortly after.

At the time of the agreement's end, 278 Cuban doctors were deployed across Jamaica's public health system. Of those, 42 have accepted individual contracts to remain — roughly 15% of the original cohort. 

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, speaking at a press briefing at the IDB Building in New Kingston, confirmed the figure and noted that additional doctors had expressed interest in returning on individual terms, with an open invitation extended. 

He also revealed that some Cuban doctors who have lived in Jamaica for five or more years have applied for permanent residency under existing immigration law.

Service disruptions have followed. The Cuban Eye Care Programme at St Joseph's Hospital slowed considerably after the departure of the majority of its staff. Tufton acknowledged gaps in radiology and other specialist services. 

To address the shortfall, Jamaica has signed a memorandum of understanding with India — formalised during Indian Foreign Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar's state visit — and is in active discussions with Ghana and Nigeria.

• Jamaica ended its 50-year medical cooperation agreement with Cuba in early March 2026 • The previous agreement had expired in February 2023 • Jamaica approached Cuba from July 2025 with a restructured proposal; Cuba did not respond • 278 Cuban doctors were deployed in Jamaica at the time of the agreement's end • 42 doctors (roughly 15%) accepted individual contracts to remain • Additional Cuban doctors expressed interest in returning on individual terms • Some doctors with 5+ years in Jamaica have applied for permanent residency • The Cuban Eye Care Programme at St Joseph's Hospital experienced significant slowdowns • Gaps reported in radiology and specialist cancer services • Jamaica signed an MOU with India and is in discussions with Ghana and Nigeria

The numbers tell a stark story: 278 Cuban doctors served Jamaica's public health system; 42 remain. That 85% departure rate is not a transition — it is a collapse in slow motion, landing hardest on patients who can least absorb it.

The Cuban Eye Care Programme at St Joseph's Hospital is already operating at reduced capacity, with only 6 of 18 Cuban staff staying on and services now consolidated with Kingston Public Hospital. Radiology and cancer care are similarly exposed. Meanwhile, Jamaican doctors continue emigrating for higher salaries abroad — the same structural drain that made Cuban cooperation necessary in the first place.

For Jamaica's 2.8 million people — already contending with a growing non-communicable disease burden and a life expectancy of just 72.4 years — an MOU with India and ongoing talks with Ghana and Nigeria are not a healthcare plan. They are a holding statement.

Predictions: • Waiting times for ophthalmology and radiology services at public facilities will increase measurably within 90 days if replacement doctors are not deployed • At least one additional Caribbean government will face similar pressure to end Cuban medical cooperation agreements before end of 2026 • India's MOU with Jamaica will produce a pilot deployment of rotating specialists, but full-scale replacement of Cuban numbers is unlikely within 12 months

For five decades, Cuban doctors quietly held Jamaica's public health system together — filling the specialist gaps that the island's own brain drain kept creating. The numbers are unsparing: of 277 Cuban doctors deployed across Jamaica's public facilities, just 42 remain.

The formal end came in early March 2026, but the unravelling began years earlier. The previous cooperation agreement had expired in February 2023. From July 2025, Jamaica began approaching Havana with a restructured proposal — one that would allow doctors to receive salaries directly and retain their own passports, conditions Kingston described as necessary to comply with Jamaican labour law and international conventions. Cuba never responded.

Under the old arrangement, Havana retained up to 90% of what Jamaica paid, remitting doctors the equivalent of roughly US$25 per month — Cuba's standard domestic physician salary. Doctors also did not hold their own passports. When Jamaica discovered this, it raised the matter with immigration authorities and local Cuban officials.

The human cost is already visible. The Eye Care Programme at St Joseph's Hospital has slowed sharply. Radiology and specialist cancer services have gaps. Jamaica has signed an MOU with India and is in talks with Ghana and Nigeria, while some Cuban doctors with five or more years on the island have applied for permanent residency.

Viewpoint: Kingston maintains it negotiated in good faith for months — approaching Havana from July 2025 with a restructured proposal that would allow doctors to receive salaries directly and retain their passports, in line with Jamaican labour law and international conventions. Cuba, which under the existing arrangement retained up to 90% of doctors' earnings while paying them the equivalent of roughly US$25 per month, did not respond. Jamaica argues no programme can operate on Jamaican soil under conditions that contradict its own legislation.

Viewpoint: Critics contend that Jamaica — like Guyana before it — is capitulating to Washington's pressure rather than acting on principle. The US revoked visas for officials from several countries last June and has repeatedly threatened sanctions against governments employing Cuban medical workers. StLucia's Prime Minister Philip Pierre said openly that Washington was using his country's Cuban relationship as leverage. On this view, Kingston has dressed a geopolitical concession in the language of labour rights, and the Caribbean's poorest patients will pay the price.