It is time our Government reaches out overseas for assistance with doctors and nurses. My suggestion is to talk to Cuba. Cuba is well-known for sending doctors around the world to assist in times of necessity. 

I have been in places where I have seen Cuban doctors at work, in times of floods and disasters. After the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, they went by the dozens to help. 

Our country is in dire need of this help. We hear on the radio every day it seems about people passing over because they cannot be looked after at the hospitals and in old people’s homes. 

We have a Cuban Embassy in Wellington - why can’t we talk to them? 

Although the world has ostracised Cuba, it has one of the best education systems in the world. They have prioritised their health and wellbeing over infrastructure. Across the past generations they have trained many hundreds of thousands of people to become doctors around the world. 

Back home in Aotearoa, it seems that a million dollars worth of roadworks is better than the health and wellbeing of our people. 

It is time to get some common sense - it’s not worth having roads if people are dying and can’t get treatment. 

So maybe it is time to relook at where the Government is putting OUR money, because generally people don’t mind putting money into health. 

We must come together in Parliament and talk together about what our real priorities are in Aotearoa. 

For now we have the pharmacists calling for help - they are also underfunded, like the doctors, the nurses, and the caregivers. 

Pauline E. Tangiora