Manitoba chiefs exploring Cuban offer to send doctors to First Nations communities

A group of First Nations in Manitoba says the Cuban government has offered to provide health-care resources for communities in need.

Grand Chief Jerry Daniels of the Southern Chiefs Organization made the announcement at a media conference Friday in Havana, where a delegation of Manitoba First Nations leaders and health technicians have spent the past week discussing a potential partnership with the communist nation.

Cuba has a program where it will send a number of trained health professionals to work in other countries, according to Daniels.

The country is offering to ship contractual doctors to First Nations communities, and teach Indigenous students at the Latin American School of Medicine, Cuba's international medical school, Daniels said.

"Our nations are in the middle of a health transformation process however we all agree on one thing: we need way more health-care professional providers," said Daniels.

Many people living in First Nations do not have the necessary resources available for good care, and the people that do may face discrimination and a lack of cultural understanding, he said.

Outside of the offered resources, no logistics appear to have been figured out, and there was no confirmation that an official agreement was reached.