South African student doctor in Cuba warns local communities on Covid-19
Makhubela, from Msholozi near White River, is one of the students who received a scholarship from the Department of Health to study medicine in Cuba. He shared his views over Skype on the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic that has claimed many lives.
Ntando Makhubela has plans to promote preventative health-care measures when he returns to South Africa.
He said although some citizens do not consider the outbreak seriously, he welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to put the country on lockdown.
“We have seen and heard how the virus has claimed more than 30 000 lives and counting, globally.”
“People should be conscious about the fact that in countries such as China, the numbers have reduced through discipline and, of course, basic preventative measures such as staying at home and washing your hands frequently with soap, as well as sanitising. Covid-19 is highly contagious and the world has paused because of this pandemic.”
One of Makhubela’s concerns about the country’s health system is prevention. He said, in educating society, health comes first and is very important.
“The Cuban health-care system is more concerned with preventative-care measures, which is what I want to promote in South African communities. Educating people on illnesses rather than waiting for them to get sick, is much better than having congested hospital wards due to a lack of information on maintaining good health.”
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Regarding primary health-care, he feels there is a need to establish a system with medical personnel to combat health issues without geographical barriers or class.
“People should be free to speak about their health problems with health-care workers, so that they are advised on how to lead healthy lifestyles. Secondly, the mentality of the majority of us must change, that health is not a racial question; it is rather a responsibility for every human being.”
“Everyone must be made aware of their health status regardless of character and the type of symptoms that present in that particular person. The value of a human life is priceless and cannot be compared to any materialistic things.”
Leaving South Africa in 2015 after working as a petrol attendant, he was excited, but admitted it was not easy adapting to the culture and learning to speak Spanish. It is his fifth year living in the country and he is doing his fourth year at Finlay University of Medical Sciences, Camagüey.
“Studying medicine in Cuba is more of a marathon rather than a sprint. One has to try and keep up with every topic as we are constantly being evaluated, almost every week.
“From the third year, we start with practicals in hospitals and we are allocated beds in different wards where we are responsible for patients. While doing medical rounds, we also report to medical officers daily on progress of our patients. It is basically putting theory into practice and we learn by seeing the improvement in patients,” he explained.
He pleaded with South Africans to comply with the regulations of the lockdown by staying home, as this will save lives.
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