This archive report was first published on 18 July 2020.
On July 18, 2020, Kenya's government announced that it would pay the 20 Cuban doctors who had arrived to support the country's fight against COVID-19 at the same rate as local doctors.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe explained that the Cuban doctors were in Kenya to exchange skills and expertise with their Kenyan counterparts who were on the frontlines of the COVID-19 fight.
'We are not paying more than what we pay our own doctors,' Kagwe said. 'It is a small brigade of doctors who are specialists in their own areas who have come to help us, we learn from them and they also learn from us.'
Kenya had reported 688 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, July 18, 2020, from 4,522 samples, bringing the national tally to 12,750.
The Cuban doctors, who are specialists in internal medicine, oncology, cardiology, renal, and pediatrics, will be based at the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH).
President Kenyatta had personally made a phone call to his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel to request the deployment of the doctors, who will offer their services in Kenya for a period of three months with a possible extension.
