The South African Health Deputy Minister, Dr. Joe Phaahla, has highlighted the benefits that cooperation agreements with Cuba give to his country.
The official collaboration program, launched in 1996, known as Nelson Mandela-Fidel Castro, was established with the aim of addressing the shortage of health professionals in South Africa, especially in the poorest and rural areas.
This human project, 'provides opportunities for young South Africans from rural and disadvantaged communities to receive training in the field of medicine,' he noted.
Phaahla met with his Cuban counterpart, Dr. Marcia Cobas to evaluate existing bilateral agreements.
Both officials visited the Hospital of Tembisa, Gauteng province, where professionals from the Caribbean island are working as part of a program aimed at strengthening cooperation between South Africa and Cuba in the health sector.
'About 450 Cuban health professionals work in many parts of the country, in Gauteng alone there are over 50 of them,' stated Phaahla.
He also explained that there are about 900 South African students studying in the Caribbean nation, who are expected to return in 2018 to conclude their training at home.
The deputy minister Cobas, who also interacted with some of the Cuban doctors serving in South Africa, added that the island has a similar cooperation with nearly 30 countries in Africa.