Molise watches as Calabria defies Washington over Cuban doctors

Calabria, Italy's southernmost mainland region, is holding firm against American pressure to terminate its long-running programme of Cuban medical professionals. According to the Associated Press and Los Angeles Times, more than 200 Cuban doctors work in the region's remote hospitals, easing staff shortages so severe that emergency-room wait times have fallen sharply since they arrived. The United States has pressed allies to drop what it calls an exploitative overseas medical mission; Calabria's governor has refused, arguing the region cannot afford to lose them.

The standoff illuminates a healthcare crisis that stretches across southern Italy's interior. Molise, with 289,000 people spread across a largely rural landscape, faces similar recruitment problems: rural clinics struggle to attract Italian physicians, and many young doctors emigrate northward or abroad. The region has no medical school of its own, forcing reliance on specialists trained elsewhere who have little incentive to stay. Unlike Calabria, Molise has not pursued foreign medical staff, but the underlying shortage is identical.