Cuba will soon send 10 specialized nurses to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Academic Hospital Paramaribo (AZP). The AZP currently has a shortage of nurses with the skills and experiences to work at the NICU. Due to the shortage of nurses at the NICU several babies died. About two years ago newborns also died because of the dire situation at the AZP. Many people who worked in the nation’s healthcare sector have reportedly left the country because of the low salaries. Most of the nurses leave for Europe and countries in the Caribbean. Last Friday Surinamese officials met with Cuban officials to discuss a collaboration in the healthcare sector. Foreign Affairs Minister Albert Ramdin and Cuba’s ambassador to Suriname, Fakri Rodriguez Pinelo, reportedly inked an agreement. Shortly after the agreement was signed Ambassador Pinelo announced that Cuba would soon send 10 specialized nurses for the AZP’s NICU to Suriname. Minister Ramdin and Ambassador Pinelo also discussed the fact that Suriname still has to pay Cuba for services rendered by Cuban doctors and nurses and the transfer of college funds for Surinamese students  in Cuba. Potential solutions were also discussed. Several years ago Suriname hired more than 30 Cuban doctors and nurses. But after a few years these Cuban doctors and nurses had to leave Suriname. The Health Ministry explained that it would deploy its own people in the healthcare sector…[+]