Bolivian doctors call protest strike against Cuban colleagues

May, 26 - 1:28 PM

Bolivian doctors call protest strike against Cuban colleagues

La Paz.– The Bolivian Medical Association called a strike for June 1
against the health-care policy of President Evo Morales, which allows
the presence of 600 Cuban doctors who have not been certified locally.

The head of the 15,000-member association, Fernando Arandia, told the
press Friday that the 24-hour strike will be the only measure that will
be taken to protest the government's decision to keep the Cubans in
Bolivia indefinitely.

"The protest is against the government policy of keeping foreign doctors
here when they do not meet the legal requirements for exercising the
profession," Arandia said.

Existing regulations require that doctors who graduated in other
countries have their degrees accredited locally and that they obtain
professional certification in order to work in Bolivia, norms that in
this case have not been respected.

Bolivian doctors, among whom some 10,000 are unemployed, have asked to
work under the same conditions as the Cubans who receive pay, lodging,
transportation and food.

Cuban doctors came to Bolivia at the beginning of the year as a
temporary aid for victims of heavy rains, flooding and other natural
disasters, but the duration of their stay now appears indefinite.

"They can't work without complying with the requirements of the medical
associations of every province, which by law are responsible for
preventing the illegal practice of the profession," Arandia said.

According to the Cuban Embassy in La Paz, there are 770 medical
professionals and technicians in Bolivia who work in remote areas of the
country and who to date have attended 524,000 patients.

One of their programs is Operation Miracle, which consists of performing
free eye surgeries such as removing cataracts, from which more than
11,000 patients have benefited, the embassy reported.

Morales inaugurated in Sucre, the official capital of Bolivia, the fifth
ophthalmology center donated by Cuba.

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