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Cuban medical students decline but Gauteng intends to recruit more

The number of Gauteng students studying medicine in Cuba has declined from 264 in 2019 to 25 last year, but the Gauteng Health Department insists that more students will be recruited for the programme despite paying R316 000 annually for each student.

This information is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Nomathemba Mokgethi in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

According to Mokgethi, there were 264 students in Cuba in 2019, 114 in 2020, 25 in 2021 and 25 this year.

But Mokgethi says that “the implementation of the SA Cuba Binational Agreement is continuing, and more students are being recruited.”

It is disappointing that the department wishes to continue with a programme that is more than double the cost of local medical training. It also takes two years longer as there is an extra year to learn Spanish and they spend another year finalising their training at a South African medical school.

Furthermore, the provincial treasury is currently doing a forensic audit on suspected corruption in this programme which had a budget of R313 million last year.

Gauteng should follow the Western Cape Health Department which refuses to participate in this expensive programme.

Money is better spent to expand training at the three medical schools in Gauteng rather than paying an exorbitant amount for overseas training that still requires an extra year of local training.

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Training of Cuban Doctors costs double local training

The annual cost of training South Africans to become a doctor in Cuba is R331 000, which is more than double the cost at a local medical school, which is R150 000.

This is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Bandile Masuku in a written reply to questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

Masuku defends the extra expense because “Cuba trains students who find it difficult to be accepted in South African universities but had good Gr 12 bachelors pass. In this way Cuba trained more doctors required for the South African health system than the current teachIng and training platform in South Africa.”

He says furthermore that “students trained in Cuba are trained in a health system that produces better health outcomes than the heath system in South Africa as it is a more disease prevention and health promotive in its approach.”

Training in Cuba is for six years, which includes a year learning Spanish, and they also need to spend another year finalizing their training at a medical school in South Africa.

This means that the full cost to train a doctor on the Cuban programme amounts to about R2 136 000, compared to R900 000 in South Africa in a shorter time.

I am disappointed that Masuku continues to defend this programme which is so expensive that the National Health Department decided last year to downsize it drastically. He claims strangely that there is an advantage in learning Spanish as the students have a better understanding of language, but the use of Spanish locally is virtually non-existent.

The Gauteng Health Department has budgeted about R130 million this year for 400 medical students in Cuba.

It would be far better to spend this money to expand training at the three medical schools in Gauteng.

We should surely train more doctors locally rather than pay an exorbitant amount for overseas training that still requires an extra year of local training.

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R1.6 Billion Overspend Projected For Gauteng Health

Gauteng Legislature’s Health Committee

The Gauteng Health Department is projected to overspend by R1.6 billion by the end of the 31 March financial year.

This was revealed in a presentation by the department at a meeting of the Gauteng Legislature’s Health Committee earlier this week.

According to the presentation, the biggest overspend will be R1.162 billion by the four academic hospitals (Chris Hani Baragwanath, Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg, Steve Biko and George Mukhari).

Provincial hospitals will also overspend by R199 million and district health services by R50 million.

Court-ordered payments for medical negligence are a major reason for the overspend.

Health Science and Training Programme

Other reasons include the improvement of conditions of service funding gap on the Occupational Specific Dispensation (OSD), and the payment of accruals on medicine, medical supplies and agency and support services.

The Health Science and Training Programme is projected to overspend by R137 million mainly because of the cost of training students to become doctors in Cuba.

The department’s funding crisis is leading to delayed payments of suppliers, pushing many small companies into financial ruin.

The funding deficit is also likely to rise because of the extra costs in relocating psychiatric patients from unsuitable NGOs where they were placed after the closure of Life Healthcare Esidimeni.

New Health MEC Gwen Ramokgopa faces a daunting task in fully funding services for patients.

I suspect that the provincial government will have to bail out the health department, diverting money from other departments as has happened previously.

 

 

Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health

082 333 4222

[Image source]

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Gauteng Spends R144m On Cuban Doctor Training

Gauteng Health Department

The Gauteng Health Department is spending R144 million this year for 461 students to study medicine in Cuba, which is about 50% more than it would cost to train them locally as doctors.

According to Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature, the average per capita cost per student works out to R312 476 this year.

The students are in Cuba for six years, which includes one year learning Spanish. Thereafter, they have to spend an additional two years for integration of studies at a South African medical university.

This means that it costs more than R1.8 million to train a doctor in Cuba, and another R500 000 for the extra two years in South Africa, so the total cost would be about R2.3 million for each student.

This compares to about R1.5 million to train a doctor in South Africa in a shorter time.

Cuba Doctor Training Programme

National Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi has driven the Cuba doctor training programme but he falsely claimed in 2013 that that this training only cost R750 000 per student.

Other information in Mahlangu’s reply includes the fact that last year, 33 out of 111 students failed their second year of medical study in Cuba, but there were no failures for the students in other years of study.

So far, only 29 South Africans who qualified as doctors in Cuba are employed in Gauteng.

It is mystifying why the Department wants to spend so much money training doctors in Cuba instead of assisting local medical schools to take extra students.

We should train more doctors locally rather than pay an exorbitant amount for overseas study that still requires an extra two years local training.

 

Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health

082 333 4222

[Image source]

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High Cost to Train Doctors in Cuba

Medical Training in Cuba

The Gauteng Health Department is spending R70.5 million this year on 80 students to study medicine in Cuba, which is much higher than the cost of training doctors in South Africa.

This is revealed by Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu in a written reply to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

Costs to Send Students to Cuba

According to Mahlangu, it will take 8 years in total for them to qualify as doctors who can practice in South Africa as they will have to do an extra two years of integration of studies at a local medical university.

The first students who will do the extra two-year course will be in 2019.

So far, only 25 South Africans have trained as doctors in Cuba and qualified to practice in Gauteng.

The number of students sent to Cuba for medical training in previous years has been higher, but at a lower average cost per student:

  • 2012 – 105 students at a cost of R25.6 million;
  • 2013 – 115 students at a cost of R33 million; and
  • 2014 – 138 students at a cost of R37.2 million.

Integration

The University of Cape Town estimated in 2012 that it cost R1.3 million to train a South African doctor in 6 years.

In previous years, it has cost about R1.6 million to train a doctor in Cuba, excluding the cost of extra training in South Africa.

The figure spent this year is much higher, at about R875 000 per student, which over six years would amount to more than R5 million.

Whatever the true cost, it is substantially higher than in local medical schools.

This is why the Western Cape Health Department has declined to participate in sending students to study in Cuba.

The Gauteng Health Department should review the doctor training programme in Cuba as the money is better spent in increasing the local capacity to train doctors.

Local training is also shorter and geared to local conditions.

Our priority is surely to train more doctors locally rather than paying another country an exorbitant amount for a course taught in a foreign language that still requires an extra two years local training.

 

Media enquiries:

Jack Bloom MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health

082 333 4222

[Image source]