The 38-year-old surgeon is among the hundreds of health workers from the Caribbean island brought in to fill a drastic shortage of doctors across Calabria, one of the poorest regions in western Europe.

Spurred by government proposals to reduce pensions, the 24-hour strikes reignited the debate over gruelling shift patterns and poor pay amid an exodus of staff.

In Italy’s poorer south, the public health system had endured neglect for years before the pandemic, with severe cost-cutting leading to the closure of dozens of hospitals.

To remedy the problem, Calabria’s regional government called on Cuba, famous worldwide for dispatching medical brigades to assist with saving lives, most often during times of humanitarian calamity.

The pandemic paved the way for the first missions to otherwise prosperous European countries – specifically to Bergamo, the northern Italian province that experienced one of the deadliest outbreaks of Covid-19, and Andorra.

The Guardian visited Polistena after a holiday weekend during which the hospital, a building in desperate need of modernisation, was busy dealing with emergency operations after an increase in road accidents.

The original article contains 1,009 words, the summary contains 177 words. Saved 82%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!