Jamaica-Cuba Eye Care Programme to continue, says Minister Tufton

The Jamaica-Cuba Eye Care Programme will continue its operations despite the conclusion of the technical cooperation agreement between the Government of Jamaica and the Government of Cuba, Health and Wellness Minister Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton confirmed during a hybrid press briefing on Monday (March 9).

Dr. Tufton said the Ministry of Health and Wellness understands and fully appreciates the benefits of the programme, which operates at St. Joseph’s Hospital and is supported by 18 Cuban healthcare workers. “We know many Jamaicans have benefited from this, and it has been driven primarily by this agreement involving the Cuban workers. The intention is not to discontinue the programme. The intention is to work with the existing team up to the point when they may discontinue or continue, depending on where the discussions lead and beyond that, to find alternative ways to continue the work, because it’s a very critical programme,” he explained.

The Health Minister noted that the Cuban team will continue procedures until March 20, with services limited to surgery and post-operative care. “What this means is that surgical procedures for patients who are already scheduled and follow-up care for patients who have already undergone eye surgery and retina-related post-operative treatment and monitoring… those procedures will take place,” Dr. Tufton said. Approximately 140 patients are scheduled to undergo surgery.

Dr. Tufton urged patients who have benefited from the surgeries to attend their scheduled follow-up appointments to ensure proper recovery and continued care.

“In the meantime, we are working on alternative arrangements to ensure the continuity of the screening programme through a combination of our internal capacity, as well as through some outsourcing arrangements, and we’ve got the Cabinet’s agreement on that… in the sense that it has a budgetary implication, meaning engaging the private sector,” he added.

The clarification comes after last week’s confirmation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade that the Government of Jamaica will discontinue the current arrangement for the deployment of Cuban medical professionals in the public health sector, following the expiration of the last technical cooperation agreement in February 2023 and a failure to agree on new terms with Havana.

The Ministry’s statement emphasized that the decision to discontinue the broader deployment does not affect the Jamaica-Cuba Eye Care Programme, which remains a critical initiative supporting surgical and post-operative eye care for Jamaicans.