Cuban doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals have been sharing their expertise at hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities in Jamaica since the 1970’s. In 2010, Cuba established an Ophthalmology Centre on the campus of St. Joseph’s hospital in Kingston to treat Jamaican and other Caribbean nations with eye conditions which has been so successful that the eye care program was extended in 2015 for another three years. In 2017, there were almost 200 Cuban health professionals working throughout Jamaica.
Now Jamaica’s public health system will be receiving more than 100 doctors and well over 200 nurses within the year all coming from Cuba as part of a long-standing relationship with the Cuban Government under the Technical Cooperation Agreement between Jamaica and Cuba and it is expected that this group will be strategically placed to strengthen Jamaica’s primary health care system.